Current NHL players who still can't speak English

[Ziostilon]

I was listening to some post-game comments from some non-North American players. Like Filip Forsberg, Artturi Lehkonen.

And you would not be able to tell that they weren't from the North American continent.

Who are some current players that still pull the "No English" mantra

Even Zaitsev has at least a conversation level of English. If it was 25 years ago, I'm not so sure his English would be as good.

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[MessierII]

Malkins English is still terrible

 

[CanuckGame39]

I'm not sure if Nikita Tryamkin can or not, the team says he can't, they even got a translator for him last season, but you see him always talking to guys on the bench so who knows.

 

[DearDiary]

Malkins English is still terrible

The topic is who can't speak English, not who speaks it poorly. If it was about terrible english, a lot of players would fit into that category

 

[Hawksfan2828]

Panarin but he's learning.

 

[Balthazar]

Malkins English is still terrible

I was surprised at Elias' English after watching an interview yesterday. It's not nearly as bad as Malkin's but you'd expect a lesser pronounced accent after spending the last 23 years NJ. Even Jagr's English isn't that great all things considered.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

Panarin is the only guy that comes to mind who has used a translator in interviews.

I think everyone know how to at least answer the generic hockey questions you always get asked during a season.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Every single player in the NHL can speak english.

If you are asking which players are the worst at speaking it, probably the newer Russian players.

I know that with the Rangers that had a translator for Buchnevich a few times, but the team doesn't have him do many interviews. And you can see that he speaks with his teammates during the game, in team videos. He probably doesn't understand some things, but enough that he can get by for now in understanding locker room interactions and the coaches.

I'm sure its the same thing for Zaitsev, Tryamkin and whoever else is in their first season out of Russia.

But all these guys can speak English well enough to play in the NHL. Maybe they all struggled a lot in their first month or two, but I would think every single non-Russian NHL'er came over to NA with enough knowledge of the English language, and the Russian players knew enough within a month or two.

 

[Flynn84]

I'm sure its the same thing for Zaitsev

 

[fishsandwichpatrol]

Tarasenko I believe didn't speak it at all until recently. He was very shy about it.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Good for him. You know most of them don't speak English when they first get over here though.

 

[Harv]

The days of Russians coming the NHL with no English skills are probably over. Now that these guys grew up their whole lives in a post-USSR environment they have been taught and exposed to English quite frequently. English media of movies, music, books, websites, etc are very common in Russia unless you live in a very rural place far away from any major cities. And if that is the case, you probably aren't playing high level hockey anyway. English is taught in schools and it depends on the person how good they want to be at it.

 

[Tofveve]

This feels like a Malkin thread from 5 years ago

 

[Kreegz2]

The days of Russians coming the NHL with no English skills are probably over. Now that these guys grew up their whole lives in a post-USSR environment they have been taught and exposed to English quite frequently. English media of movies, music, books, websites, etc are very common in Russia unless you live in a very rural place far away from any major cities. And if that is the case, you probably aren't playing high level hockey anyway. English is taught in schools and it depends on the person how good they want to be at it.

Tarasenko couldn't put together a sentence in English when he came over. He only started doing interviews last season.

 

[SpinningEdge]

Alexander Semin would still be the winner here. Did he ever speak English in a interview in his 10 year career???

 

[crobro]

The only players that I see coming in and not speaking English are French Canadians

 

[Kryten]

The only players that I see coming in and not speaking English are French Canadians

Martin Biron makes Gilbert Gottfried sound like Michael Buble

 

[Oan]

Jesse Puljujarvi. Embarrassing that a Finn can't speak English.

 

[Tofveve]

Tarasenko couldn't put together a sentence in English when he came over. He only started doing interviews last season.

The interviews generally speedup the process. That was the case in Malkin's case..

 

[Byron Bitz]

I would rate Kulemins English as poor at best

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

Doesn't Bobrovsky not know much English?

 

[EmeticDonut]

Jesse Puljujarvi. Embarrassing that a Finn can't speak English.

It's a bit odd that a Finn can't even string a few English sentences together, English is after all taught in school and English-language entertainment is subtitled rather than dubbed. But if you are so into improving your hockey game then learning a second language is not one of the priorities.

Russian's poor English is mostly due to them not needing it that much. They have their local entertainment and foreign language entertainment is dubbed, little exposure to English.

 

[FanOfSadTeam]

Doesn't Bobrovsky not know much English?

His English is pretty good. Speaks better than most Russians.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

His English is pretty good. Speaks better than most Russians.

That's funny because from every interview I see of him he has someone translating. But that was back when Bob was a nobody, now he's an elite goalie and living in Columbus a city where everyone speaks English, I bet he's probably improved a lot.

 

[paragon]

But if you are so into improving your hockey game then learning a second language is not one of the priorities.

It's not like he didn't have time for both. He wasn't training 24/7 when he was a small kid. Everyone says he has great work ethic, so I think he's just dense.

I dislike that "priority" argument, because no teacher or parent is going to say it's ok to stop going to school/learning at a young age because someone wants to become a hollywood actor or a pro hockey player. That's why you do both when you are young. You can maybe ease on the school at the age of 15-16 if it looks like you are going to pan out, but Puljujärvi sounds like he's skipped all his English lessons since he was 9.