As they say in Russian "till we meet again", and that is what the MHL and Budapest are saying to each other... The MHL is the top junior league in Russia, much like the OHL, WHL and the QMJHL in Canada and the Junior 20 Super Elite in Sweden.
One year ago the MHL looked towards Budapest to expand its involvement in Europe. With some Russian and Czech businessmen the team by the name of Patriots was founded in Budapest. The team had a nice home facility in the Jégpalota ('Ice Palace') out in Káposztásmegyer that was relatively easy to get to compared to the other rinks in Budapest. The fans were supposed to see future KHL and NHL stars with Hungarians mixed into the team as well. Benjámin Nemes was named to the All Star gala and even scored a goal for his team.
As last season progressed there were signs that the club was not in the most financially sound situation. There were times that the club was late on paying the players as well as paying rent to the Ice Palace. With these setbacks the club was able to finish the season and there were promises from the management that everything will be set for the 2013-14 season.
Last spring Dmitri Efimov the managing director and CEO of the MHL was in Budapest, when he was asked what does the future look like for the Patriot and the MHL in Hungary he said that everything will be fine, the management has promised the league that there are some new investors and the problems that slowed the development of the club will not be a problem in the future. With regarding the league in Hungary Efimov said that he looks forward to what the MHL can do to hockey in Hungary.
Unfortunately things did not turn out the way they were promised. During the summer the club's website greeted its visitor with the message "The official website of Patriot Budapest has been temporarily disabled due to unfulfilled obligations of the club" in English, Hungarian and Czech, the service provider later said that this was incorrect but nothing else was up on the website.
On the September 26th the MHL put out a statement that said that the club will not be partaking in the 2013-14 season. On the 28th the league stated that basically the club has folded due to financial reasons, in other words the management could not fulfill their financial promises.
Benjámin Nemes said one of the reasons that made him leave the club and sign with EBEL side Székesfehérvár was that he did not feel that the club would still be financially stable. In the end it looks like Nemes was correct. "It is a shame that the club had to fold. Even though there were only a few Hungarians in the team it was a great opportunity to see future KHL and NHL players in Budapest." Nemes went on saying that he feels sorry for the players that are now stuck looking for a new club to sign with.
With regards to the club folding Efimov says that it was a pleasure working together with Zoltán Kovács, secretary general of the Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation. Efimov also said that he hopes to see a new MHL team in the near future but until then...Do Svidaniya.
Szabolcs Závodszky
@Zavodszky