This season, Matvei Michkov is one of the big stories in the NHL. The Flyers forward, who is one of the most watched rookies in the league, is having a good start in America.
Just today, he scored a goal (his seventh of the season) to give his team the victory in overtime. He now has 16 points in 19 games.
Obviously, when we know the youngster’s potential and see him dominate from the start, it’s hard not to get excited about his future. It is logical to see him as a future top player in the NHL, and some even dare to talk about him as being the “savior” of the Flyers…
But not John Tortorella.
Yesterday, at a press briefing, he recalled that the kid still has a lot to learn and that he will not give him preferential treatment… while still making a statement à la Torts :
I don’t know who said that. [Michkov]a savior? Kiss my a*s. – John Tortorella
We know that in recent weeks, the attitude of kidwho is very competitive, got people talking. We know that he was left out because of comments made on the bench, and we feel that it is part of a learning process that Tortorella wants to put him through.
Does his statement yesterday fall in this direction, or to try to “bring/keep him back to Earth”? The question arises.
That said, in recent days, the relationship between Michkov and his coach has been the subject of a bit of discussion. Tortorella denies having a bad relationship with his player, but we feel that there are details that complicate everything.
From the lot? The language barrier.
Tortorella explains that he has difficulty communicating with Michkov on the bench since he does not understand English well. He tries to communicate information to him, but even if Michkov says “Yeah, yeah”, the coach is well aware that things are going quickly for his player and that he does not understand everything.
He therefore abandoned the idea of training her day by day: instead he talks to her once a week in private with an interpreter.
And when we hear Michkov say that learning English is his biggest difficulty at the moment, we think that it might still take a while before we find a better solution to this problem.
I hope that the Canadian will take notes in connection with all this in view of the arrival of Ivan Demidov, who risks dealing with a similar situation even if he understands English a little better than Michkov. Because if it’s a situation that is tolerated in baseball because of the pace of the game, it’s a different story in hockey, where everything goes quickly.
In burst
– Lane Hutson gains confidence.
– Kirill Kaprizov sur la touche.
– Nicolas Roy’s work is recognized by his peers.
– That’s a good point.
– Anyway.
– Oh yes?
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