A hockey player “Lokomotiv” Dmitry Simashev told that he communicated with the Slovak defender from Yaroslavl Martin Gernat exclusively in Russian.
Defenseman Simashev was selected by the Arizona Coyotes in the first round, 6th overall. This is the highest number among Russians in the 2023 draft.
— During the NHL draft, there was a lot of talk about your excellent English. Do you continue to study it?
— Of course, I study a foreign language three times a week, I watch a lot of video content in English. Additionally, I have many American parents, so I continue to study English.
— Who do you train with most often at Lokomotiv? Maybe with Martin Gernat?
— I try to communicate with Gernat in Russian so that he understands our language better. But we have a lot of guys in our team who played in America and speak excellent English: Seryoga Andronov, Maxim Shalunov, Nikita Cherepanov, Sanya Elesin. As a matter of principle, I communicate with Gernat only in Russian so that he learns our language.
— So, Martin is making progress?
— Even if he doesn’t speak Russian, he understands a lot of things; after all, the Russian language is similar to Slovak. “He does not yet read the classic works of our literature,” Simashev told .
Gernat spends his first season in the KHL. In 33 matches for Lokomotiv, he scored 15 points (3+12).
Watch Fonbet matches of the KHL championship on the channels of the Match holding company, as well as on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.
Source : MatchTV
I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.
