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Best Romani Player Of All Time

  • Thread starter Thread starter Yamaguchi*
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Yamaguchi*

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I would vote for DAVE SEMENKO (a Canadian-Ukrainian Gypsy).

He won a couple of Stanley Cups with the Oilers, skated on a line with Wayne Gretzky and even had a boxing match against Mohammed Ali.


Any other suggestions?
 
So far Semenko and Odjick have one vote each.

Any other opinions?
 
Slim pickings..............I guess Semenko.

We're talking about players from Romanian/Ukranian descent here right? That is the modern version as far as I know of a gypsy. People who settled in Eastern Europe.
 
My understanding is that Dave Semenko is ethnically Ukrainian (i.e. not someone of Roma/Gypsy ancestry).

We're talking about players from Romanian/Ukranian descent here right? That is the modern version as far as I know of a gypsy.
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No -- Romanians, Ukrainians and the Roma/Gypsies are three distinct ethnic groups. There's no co-extensiveness.
 
Master_Of_Districts said:
No -- Romanians, Ukrainians and the Roma/Gypsies are three distinct ethnic groups. There's no co-extensiveness.
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Yeah but they settled in Eastern Europe for the most part correct? Hungary is one of the first countries I think of when it comes to this.
 
I've heard that Semenko's ancestors were Gypsies that came to Canada from Ukraine. Hence, the Ukrainian surname.
 
They might not be romani, but i sense clear ethnical differencies in czech-o-slovakia. Come to think of it, aint Roman Hamrlik one? Maybe i've just assumed he is becouse of his name and his appearence. Gaborik and Hossa is really light while guys like Chara is much darker although not Hamrlik style.

On a sidenote there is a difference between romanis and some european travellers that also is a bit on the dark side, something many of them seems to point out anyway. Maybe they're just wanting to distance themselves for some reason culturally.
 
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MadArcand said:
Hungary ain't even in eastern Europe, gypsies were nomads and they got everywhere from Russia to Spain.
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You wouldn't classify it as Eastern Europe? It sort of is don't you think? They settled all over the place over there. From my understanding it was predominantly Eastern Europe. Oh well.
 
People generally don't go around bragging about their Romani background if they have one. Compiling a list of Romani hockey players would be very difficult for that reason alone.

Besides, Slovakia is the only major hockey country where Romani people make up a significant part (as in 1% or more) of the population. I could name a couple of footballers from Spain and Romania that are Romani though, if you're interested.
 
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Austria is Western Europe and Czech republic Eastern Europe, am I doing it right? Now look at the map, please...

Region of Poland, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Austria and even Germany is called Central Europe. Even well respected Samuel Huntinghton in famous book Clash of the civilizations recognizes this region.

Hope I've lost in translation but calling Czechs, Slovaks or Ukrainian as gypsies is quite an insult.

OP: Czech player Martin Ševc (Färjestadt) was suspended because he yelled "f.......g gypsy" to his opponent Daniel Rahim from HV 71 (2011). May be the one and only gypsy hockey player I've ever hear of.
 
begbeee said:
OP: Czech player Martin Ševc (Färjestadt) was suspended because he yelled "f.......g gypsy" to his opponent Daniel Rahim from HV 71 (2011). May be the one and only gypsy hockey player I've ever hear of.
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As far as a guy that is half iranian, half swedish are romani, yes.

My bet is still Roman Hamrlik, and i can also nominate Leo Gudas.
 
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Hamrlik doesn't really look gypsyish, he's dark but more in Italian/Balkan way. The name doesn't sound gypsy either.

Big Phil said:
You wouldn't classify it as Eastern Europe? It sort of is don't you think? They settled all over the place over there. From my understanding it was predominantly Eastern Europe. Oh well.
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Hungary's central Europe.
 
MadArcand said:
Hamrlik doesn't really look gypsyish, he's dark but more in Italian/Balkan way. The name doesn't sound gypsy either.


Hungary's central Europe.
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Romani familys in Sweden most often have some weird sounding swedish names. I could be wrong about him, but also not.

And when it comes to Hungary i would say that western europe sees it as a borderline case really. For us there really arent any central europe, only east and west. Maybe mediterranean too like Spain, Italy and Greece.
 
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I suppose Hungary is a grey issue then, not really important either. I guess when I think of Canada here we would consider BC and Alberta to be West, Sask and Manitoba to be midwest I guess(?) and Newfoundland and PEI and such to be "East". As an Ontarian I really don't know what we even consider Ontario to be. We're no man's land really. Even Quebec no one really considers them "East".

By the way the over/under on the amount of times Semenko was called a "Gypsy" in a mocking way on the ice. I am going to start it at 1.5 and probably still say under.
 
Master_Of_Districts said:
Do you have a source?

Google discloses nothing of the sort.
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In the book "The Game of our Lives", Peter Gzowski describes Semenko as having a 'Ukrainian gypsy air' because of his long hair and a head band that he was wearing in training camp. That's it. :laugh: Note 'gypsy' is not capitalized.
 
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