New Maple Leafs Forward Steven Lorentz Clears the Air on How to Pronounce His Last Name

Coming into training camp, there were no guarantees made to Lorentz about earning a potential contract with the club coming out of his professional tryout. However, through will, determination and excellent two-way play, Lorentz was able to secure a 1-year deal with the Leafs on Monday, worth the league minimum $775,000.

Now that Lorentz is a full-fledged Leaf, though, there is one little matter to clear up. What does Leafs Nation call him? Is it LO-rentz or LAW-rence?

Over the weekend, Lorentz was able to touch base with Sportsnet's Luke Fox, who asked the important question. Lorentz was amused by the query, and initially said that it doesn't bother him either way. However, he did confirm that the true pronunciation is actually LAW-rence.

The Leafs faced a similar situation with Ilya Samsonov over the last couple of seasons. Originally, when he came in, the common pronunciation of his last name was "Sam-sonov", but last season, he wished to be called "Samson-ov".

As an NHL player with a last name that has an unorthodox spelling, I'm sure Lorentz is used to the confusion. He certainly seems to have a good sense of humour about the whole thing and doesn't seem bothered. Both good qualities to possess when you're playing in Toronto, where a sense of humour and the ability to remain unbothered are very important.

At any rate, this should clear up any confusion about how to pronounce the Stanley Cup champion's name.