BY ANY OTHER NAME

Previously, I wrote about Steve Wochy, who became the oldest living former National Hockey League player when Jim Conacher passed away.

Beyond his new status within the game, Wochy is also recognized by two surnames. Born Steven Wojciechowski, his last name was altered to Wochy at a young age as his buddies couldn't pronounce or spell his original family name.

Another player in the Detroit Red Wings organization, Enio Sclisizzi, went through the same problem as Wochy when it came to his last name.

Sclisizzi began his pro career in 1946-47 with the Indianapolis Capitals, Detroit's farm team in the American Hockey League. In the spring of 1947, Sclisizzi made his NHL debut as the Red Wings faced the Maple Leafs in a playoff encounter. By all accounts, the legendary Foster Hewitt had difficulty calling Sclisizzi's last name, as did a number of broadcasters.

The following year, Sclisizzi only made 4 regular season and 6 playoff appearances with the Red Wings. The bulk of his playing time came in Indianapolis.

Sclisizzi attended the Wings' training camp in 1948-49 and was expected to be sent down to Indianapolis, but he earned a roster spot with Detroit. At that point, Detroit management decided it was time to change Sclisizzi's name to appease the print and broadcast media. He would be known as Jim Enio. It should be noted his name wasn't legally changed.

An article in The Hockey News noted "from now on he wants to be known as Jim Enio and he hopes the fans will accept the change with the same cooperation displayed by his teammates at the training camp this fall."

In a December 1948 piece in the Toronto Daily Star, reporter Joe Perlove, wrote about the name change:

That's right, Jim Enio came into the National Hockey League as Enio Sclisizzi, but after three radio announcers had fogged their "mikes" and broken most of their chinaware trying to pronounce it correctly, Enio changed his name to Jim Enio. Also, the name was misspelled so often by writers and printers that Enio figured he'd better make it easier on them lest they take the easier path and leave him out of the story.

Over the next three seasons, Sclisizzi bounced between Indianapolis and Detroit. When Jack Adams summoned Sclisizzi for another stint with the Red Wings in January 1952, another decision had been made concerning Sclisizzi's name.

Detroit hockey scribe, Marshall Dann, wrote, "In a formal announcement, Adams specified that he would be known as Sclisizzi henceforth. The "Jim Enio" alias is a matter of the past."

ENIO SCLISIZZI - 2011

I interviewed Enio Sclisizzi in 2011 and we talked about the name change. Here's what he had to say.

"I go to training camp one year and Fred Huber, who was the publicity man for the Detroit team, comes into the dressing room after practice. He says, 'come on into the office, I want to talk with you.' So I go up there and he says he got a call from Foster Hewitt. 'He's having a hard time pronouncing your name and we would like to change it. We thought we would change it to Jim Enio.'

"I said it doesn't matter to me. I know my dad was a little upset at the start. Even a lot of kids when I went home in the spring, they would ask, 'Where were you all winter?' Playing under Jim Enio, they didn't associate who I was. It really didn't bother me that much."