It Is Called the Bench in Any Language

With three Slovaks, two Swedes, two Czechs, a Finn and four French Canadians on the roster, Coach Andy Murray’s directives to the team can sometimes get lost in translation.

Early last season, for instance, Murray made his way around the dressing room before a game at Buffalo, delivering pep talks to his players.

Stopping in front of then-rookie defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky, a Slovak, the coach delivered an impassioned speech.

“I didn’t know how good his English was,” Murray said Tuesday, recalling the story. “I thought he understood a little bit. ... I said, ‘Lub, I want you skating tonight, moving your feet, stepping up, closing the gap.’

“He’s kind of looking at me, nodding a little bit. I said, ‘Are you ready to go tonight?’ He said, ‘Hi!”’

Actions speak louder than words, of course, so it’s doubtful that Visnovsky misinterpreted the message Tuesday night, when he was scratched for the Kings’ game against the Dallas Stars at the new American Airlines Center.

Visnovsky sat out only one game last season, because of back spasms, and was the NHL’s top scorer among rookie defensemen with 39 points.

“He’s just not as sharp as he was last year,” Murray said. “It’s kind of lingered here through the preseason and now the first two games.”

Murray said the biggest problem is that Visnovsky is not skating as well as he did last season, when he used his speed to make up for a lack of size. At 5 feet 10 and 180 pounds, Visnovsky is the Kings’ smallest defenseman.

“I’ve talked to him,” Murray said, “but his handle on the language is not great. That’s a bone of contention with us too. We want him working on his English.”