As icehockey.hu continues with the MOL League preview series next up is a team with a rich history who has won a league title in the past as well as a numbe rof domestic titles as well but has fallen on hard times the past couple of seasons and this is Transylvanian club HSC Csíkszereda.
HSC Csíkszereda will be pretty much have workload of an NHL team with playing over 80 games as they are competing not only in the MOL League but also, the Romanian league as well as the Romanian Cup. Because of this the MOL League is letting both Transylvania clubs dress eight imports instead of the normally allowed six. The roster does not look to be set since the team will still have players on tryouts for the first couple of MOL League games. Former Csíkszereda and Romanian national team players István Geréb and Béla Nagy will be behind the bench as head coach and assistant coach respectively, they will not have an easy job with the number of games the team will have to play and also with the roster not being set. There is a good chance that the club will miss the playoffs but this is a very proud club and it is never easy to face them in their home arena, look for them to pull off a couple of upsets on home ice during the season.
THE ROSTER
In goal they will have two rather young goalies who have potential. Both Gellért Ruczuj and Ottó Onodi played regularly last season, Ruczuj with Csíkszereda and Onodi with Galati in the Romanian league, with Ruczuj regularly representing Romania on the international stage. regardless of who starts the game goaltending will not be the reason that the club will lose games.
The blue line looks to be an issue for the team if they do not signed any imports. The leader of the group will be the veteran Szabolcs Papp,who has spent his entire career in Csíkszereda except for the end of last season when he was with Galati. The rest of the unit is made up of players who are mostly 20-21 years old, so far the only import Robert Mikeska is 22. Mikeska previously played in the Slovak Extraliga, if he does turn out to be a good signing that still has HSC with only two solid defenseman. Some of the young guys will have to step up or it will be a long season for Csíkszereda.
Up front the situation doesn’t look so bleak, there are a number of veteran players to count on as well as a group of young forwards who have potential. Two players that will be exciting to watch are the Heffernan brothers, Shane and Kyle. They could be the key to the offensive production that HSC will have during the season. Both brothers play with a reckless speed but also tend to take themselves out of the play. It will be interesting to see if they can keep this pace up by game 65 of the season. Robert Péter and Zsombor Antal have come back home from Brasov and could team up with veterans Ede Mihály and Ervin Moldovan. If Moldovan, Antal and Mihály can have a bounce back season plus with Péter and the Heffernans, HSC can have two solid lines. Young forwards to keep an eye on are Hugó Gecse and newly acquired Csanád Okos.
COACHES' CORNERIstván Geréb: We have a young team, we have some problems on defence which hope to remedy before the start of the season. We are expecting a better season than last year and respectable finish in the standings. We are still trying to put the roster together we will have a number of young inexperienced players but our physical conditioning should be good.
Expert Opinion*
They are still trying to put their roster together, they have a number of players on tryout contracts and have not really been able to practice together. The big question is if they will be able to sign eight imports, but not just any eight, but ones that can truly help the club. If so I think they can slip into the playoffs, if not then they will be on the outside looking in.
*Recently retired former MOL League player
Arrivals: T.Bíró, Ónodi, Papp (Galati, Romania), Bors, Farkas, Koncsag, Z.Molnár, Zs.Molnár, Salló (Progym, Romania), Dorner (KMH, OB3), Fülöp (Vasas, EBYSL), Mikeska (Senica, 1HL), Orbán (Miskolc, Slovak U20), Antal, Péter (Brasov), K. Heffernan (Katowice, Poland), Okos (Debrecen), Sofron (Fehérvár AV19, EBYSL)
Departed: Adorján, Borbat (DVTK), G.Bíró, M.Bíró, O.Bíró (Brasov), Hildebrand (Galati, Romania), Kósa, Kozuch (retired), Raitums (?)