If you happen to be attending a hockey game in Hungary in which one of the teams is Újpest then you might see a quick, smooth skating forward wearing a sweater with the number 20 on it and no name plate. You might think who is this guy and maybe even want to yell HEY WHO ARE YOU?
Well the answer to that question is Roscoe Sweeney. Who is Roscoe Sweeney you might ask now, first of all he is not some child hood from of the other American on the UTE team, David Coleman.
No, Roscoe did not know David each other before he joined UTE, however he is American. Sweeney is from the Cape, from Falmouth Massachusetts. He played his junior hockey in the Empire League playing for the Boston Junior Bruins then moving on to NCAA Division III Franklin and Pierce University. In college he was a point a game type player who has the intangibles that are needed to be a leader on and off the ice as he was an assistant captain in his sophomore season and team captain in his junior and senior campaigns.
Sweeney says that after college he just wanted to try to play a little more hockey, and this is what brought him across the pond originally to Poland to play for GKS Katowice. In Poland the club did not have money to pay Roscoe's salary, suddenly looking for a new club somewhere in Europe he got in touch with one of his former coaches at Franklin and Pierce.
Shom Datta is coaching some of the youth teams this season at Újpest and when Roscoe came calling Shom was able to get a roster spot for his former player.
When asked what his first impressions are about Hungary, the city of Budapest and playing hockey here, his answer for everything is "it's great", "I love it", and "it's awesome". Needless to say UTE hasn't had the season so far as they expected but instead of being all bummed out about it Sweeney puts a positive spin on it saying that he is playing with a great group of guys and that he still gets to play hockey while most of his teammates are working in the field that they have a degree in. "I'm living the dream of playing professional hockey and Budapest is a great city to do that in".
When asked what his opinion is on the MOL League he says that this is a high quality league and he feels lucky to have "stumbled upon" it. Sweeney would like to play out the season in purple and white and then see what happens, as of right now he is open to staying but would have no problem trying his luck elsewhere, whether it is in the MOL League or not, either.
When next time you see number 20 in purple and white you will be able to say "Hey Roscoe, I know you."
Szabolcs Závodszky
@Zavodszky