Evgeny Medvedev, Luke Schenn working around language barrier

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TAMPA, Fla. — All the time Evgeny Medvedev spent in camp with Radko Gudas trying to devise a method of communication won't go to use tonight during the Flyers' season opener against the Lightning (see game notes).

That’s because Luke Schenn — not Gudas — will be Medvedev’s stay-at-home partner. The two have barely had two practices to get the language issue resolved.

Whereas Gudas was employing a little Czech and a little Russian to communicate with Medvedev, Schenn came up with something better.

He downloaded an app for his phone that translates English to Russian. He put the same app on Medvedev’s phone to do the reverse.

That’s how they are talking off the ice.

One issue. You can’t bring a cell phone on the ice in a game.

“There’s not a lot of time to figure it out,” Schenn said of the on-ice communication. “We will just have to read off each other.”

Medvedev, who is still learning English, shrugged and said, “no problem” talking with Schenn.

“They’ve had a lot of reps together through the week,” added coach Dave Hakstol. “There is always going to be a little bit of a barrier there with Evgeny.

“But he has done a pretty good job in learning the simple, basic communication, in terms of on the ice.”

This is Medvedev’s first NHL game after playing the past seven years over in Russia in the KHL.

Nervous for your NHL debut?

“No, relaxed,” he replied. “Only relaxed.”

Systems
Hakstol said last weekend he hoped by the time the season opener arrived, his players would understand his systems well enough to react instinctively without having to think about things on the ice.

Tonight he gets to see if that has happened.

“I think we are getting there in the larger sense,” he said. “It’s still going to take time to play at top speed without having to think within the systems. Everything is pretty simple and our guys have done a good job handling it.”

Wayne Simmonds said the Flyers are “close” to grasping everything.

“All week long, we worked on our systems,” Simmonds said. “Everyone has it in their head. It’s fresh. We know what we have to do. Pretty much to a man, we’re almost there.”

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