The language barrier makes coaching Matvei Michkov difficult for John Tortorella. Here’s how he’s adjusting.
On Wednesday's TNT telecast, Tortorella revealed the challenges of coaching a player who doesn't speak English and how he and the Flyers are working through it.
Matvei Michkov’s adjustment to the NHL, the English language, and life in a new country as a 19-year-old have been well-documented.
But there are two sides to every coin as Flyers coach John Tortorella reminded us Wednesday night ahead of the team’s 4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. Speaking on the TNT telecast with Paul Bissonnette, Anson Carter, Henrik Lundqvist, and Liam McHugh, Tortorella talked in-depth — maybe for the first time — about the challenges of coaching a player with limited English skills.
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“It’s been a little difficult for me, because the way I like to coach is, if something happens, I’m hitting that right away on the bench in practice, whatever may be,” Tortorella said. “I’m not going back and waiting and going through the coach’s handbook and trying to figure out how to handle that situation or whatever arises.
“So I think it’s pretty important coaching. You know, it’s spontaneous coaching. I can’t do that with [Michkov] because he just doesn’t understand. I tried it on the bench one night when there was a situation I’m trying to explain, and he’s ‘Yeah, Yeahing’ me, but he really doesn’t know what I’m saying.”
After initially leaning on Russian defenseman Egor Zamula to translate for Michkov, Tortorella and the Flyers have changed course.
“What we’re doing here now is once a week we have an interpreter, and we sit down in my office and we go over things, and I want to listen to him. He has to listen to me. And it’s easier that way. So it’s been difficult because I’m not a big one-on-one meeting guy … but with him, it has to be a little bit different, because he’s 19.
“There’s so much going on around him, and he really doesn’t understand. He speaks better as we’ve gone on here, but I don’t think he totally understands some of the things we’re going through. So we’re trying to be careful about it. We’re going to try to slow it down and do it once a week with him.”
Most of that coaching likely revolves around Michkov’s play away from the puck. The talented rookie has brought immediate offense to the tune of 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in 18 games, but Tortorella hasn’t always been impressed with some of the other aspects of his five-on-five game. Things came to a head when Tortorella scratched Michkov for two games earlier this month in what he called a “teaching moment” and just “part of the process.”
But while there have been some “healthy” disagreements between the two, Tortorella said he appreciates that Michkov doesn’t just sit back and agree with everything the coach says.
“That’s healthy. He’s being honest with me. I’m being honest with him. And you get to the point you solve the problems quicker that way,” Tortorella said. “So that’s what I like about him. He’s got some jam to him and he has opinions, and I’d rather have a player that way than someone you’re trying to suck it out of him, right?
“It’s going to be fun to coach him, and he does some special things.”
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When asked if there was a player he’s coached who reminds him of Michkov, Tortorella said not really before adding he sees some similarities to New York Rangers star Artemi Panarin.
“With him, there are situations where I’m watching him, and he ends up making these little three-, four-foot passes that I don’t think a lot of people can make,” Tortorella said. “You know his skating, he’s not the fastest skater, he’s not the quickest skater, but he has this innate ability to be able to make plays in tight and I remember coaching Panarin in Columbus — he can make plays all over the place. [Panarin’s] a little bit different, because he lets plays go by him, and then just slows the game down. [Michkov] is making plays in the action where you’re on the bench, ‘Mich, Mich … Oh, great play!’”
Tortorella added they are telling Michkov not to worry about mistakes for now and that if “he goes off the rails” they can always pull him back and coach him.
“We are really pushing him not to worry about mistakes, about turnovers … we need to see his offense. We’re just not a great offensive team, and we want him to explore himself and not be afraid to make a mistake,” Tortorella said.