Calgary Flames' Hanley has hilarious story behind 'nacho' nickname

Calgary Flames defenceman Joel Hanley may have one of the funniest low-key nicknames in the entire NHL.

Hanley is by no means a household name, serving as a journeyman throughout his lengthy professional career which has seen him log 221 career games.

Fans in Calgary, however, are quickly becoming familiar with the 33-year-old, who was acquired off waivers from the Dallas Stars last season.

After sitting as a healthy scratch often early into the 2024-25 campaign, Hanley has quickly taken on a big role on the Flames’ back end, having logged 19 or more minutes in six of the last eight games. He even chipped in offensively with his first goal of the season in Sunday’s 3-2 win over the San Jose Sharks.

Thanks to his increased and suddenly important role, Flames fans are quickly learning more about the veteran blue liner, including his nickname “Nacho.” Many aren’t familiar with how he got the nickname, however, which turns out to be a rather hilarious story.

In a column early during the 2023-24 season, Saad Yousuf of The Athletic broke down all the Stars players’ nicknames and how they got them. It turns out Hanley’s nickname was nothing more than a reminder that his name isn’t Joe.

“One of the assistant coaches in the Rick Bowness regime was Derek Laxdal, who ran the power play,” Yousuf wrote. “Joe Pavelski was a player Laxdal interacted with more than Hanley. Because of the first three letters of Hanley’s first name, players would joke and say that Hanley was ‘not Joe.'”

Though the Flames have been referring to Hanley as “Nacho” for a good portion of the 2024-25 season, it hasn’t seemed to fully catch on with the fan base just yet. With this story resurfacing on X the last few days, however, you can expect to hear many more Calgarians refer to the blue liner as “Nacho” going forward.