Flyers' Medvedev adapting to brave new world
Evgeni Medvedev doesn't speak English, had never traveled to the United States and only converses with his skating coach.
Such was life for the 33-year-old Russian defenseman, who has begun taking English lessons as he opens a new chapter with the Philadelphia Flyers in the upcoming season.
"It was my dream from childhood," Medvedev said through skating coach and translator Slava Kouznetsov, according to the Courier-Post. "I wanted to come to the best league on Earth to see if I can play the best hockey ever."
Signed a one-year, $3 million contract in May, Medvedev has played in the Russian Elite League before competing with Ak Bars Kazan in the Kontinental Hockey League.
A puck-moving defenseman, Medvedev collected 37 goals and 128 assists in 373 career games for Ak Bars Kazan. The 6-foot-3, 187-pounder notched three assists in seven contests with Russia during the World Championship and represented his country in the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
(h/t Courier-Post)
