Sergachev blames perceived shot at Leafs on poorly translated quotes
Tampa Bay Lightning defenceman Mikael Sergachev says his recent comments regarding the Toronto Maple Leafs were lost in translation.
Sergachev recently sat down with Russian outlet Sport24, and made some comments that Leafs fans took as a shot at their team. The false translation read, “Wow, [Toronto] wins one series in 19 years then immediately loses. They deserve no credit. No other team would celebrate such a thing.”
The Maple Leafs were able to win their first series in 19 years against the Lightning in late April, so it made sense to some that Sergachev may be frustrated. However, the 25-year-old took to Instagram on Wednesday to blast those who incorrectly translated his comments.
“Lol, if you don’t speak Russian, don’t use google translate as your first option and then spread misinformation! I never said it like that!” Sergachev wrote. “Question was ‘Toronto played very physical which got [a] couple of your defencemen hurt, is that true?’ And I said, ‘No, it just happens sometimes people get hurt by accident, and I don’t want to give them credit.'”
Sergachev then said that he was asked why he didn’t feel the need to give them credit, to which he responded, “Why? I don’t think they deserved them.” He was then reminded that it marked the first time the Leafs had advanced past the first round in 19 years. “Here true, good on them! But they didn’t go through [the] second round. I don’t see a reason to celebrate.”
@sergach98/Instagram
Sergachev ended his post by telling everyone to either check their sources or find someone who speaks Russian next time and followed it up with three clown emojis. This entire situation seemed to really bug him and you can’t blame him for that. The two-time Stanley Cup winner shared some hate messages he had received on Instagram shortly after the false translation was put out, further proving the impact of false quotes.