Miskolc is one win away from winning the first ever treble in Hungarian hockey. The story of the late game was that Zoltán Hetényi stepped on the ice for the first time.
Miskolc-DAB.Docler 6-3
Looks like the long break between the MOL League finals and the Hungarian Cup did not have an effect on Miskolc as Balázs Láda flipped home a bouncing puck past Dunaújváros goalie Peter Sevela in the opening minute of the game, just past the five minute mark of the game when Dezső Roczanov made it 2-0. Just as it looked like Miksolc was going to pull away in the game DAB.Docler took advantage of a power play when Adriá Hüffner blasted a shot past Bence Bálizs to end his shutout. In the second period Zach Cohen as he has all season scored a timely goal but again DAB cut it to a one goal game when David Croteau put a one timer past Bálizs from the slot. Miskolc finally took control of the game for good when they scored twice in a span of 18 seconds, first Conor O’Donnell was able to light the lamp, seconds later Matt Boyle slipped an ugly rebound past Sevela, the DAB.docler goalie was not having the best game. In the third period DAB.Docler made a switch in net as Márk Hajek replaced Sevela, Dunaújváros was trying to get back into the game but a goal halfway through the period but the game out of reach. Hüffner managed to score a second goal off a screen that Bálizs did not see to set the final at 6-3.
Gergely Majoross-“We were back on the ice after a long time and this was one of our challenges, it was a bit of a strange game as disappointed team faced a team in euphoria. This wasn’t a good game but luckily we played a bit better. It is a good indicator to see what kind of team we are since the last time we faced them we were at a different point in the season as them, I’m sure it will be a good game.”
Zach Cohan-“We were still rusty at the start but we picked it up in the second period we started to play our own game, they started to get tired and we capitalized on our opportunities. It was important to get a good start in the game, we wanted to win this so we would have another chance to face Fehérvár.”
Robert Spisak-“It was important that we start the game strong since we haven’t played in two weeks. We were chasing the score right from the first minute, I don’t think we were able to cause as many problems for Miskolc as we would have liked.”
Adrián Hüffner-”Unfortunately were not up for the game as much as we would have liked, this is probably because we have not played a game in a long time whereas Miskolc is in playoff form. We started the game slow and we were down by two very early, I felt that we had a chance to turn things around since we had opportunities but Miskolc found two more goals and after that it was really hard to get back into the game.”
Fehérvár AV19-Debreceni HK 7-1
This was a game that people were interested in since Debrecen as the new team also had a bit a of a mysterious side with the number of Russians in the team. The visitor started great as goalie Savva Borodni was playing great, deep into the opening period former Volán star Balázs Ladányi scored to make it 1-0. The lead only lasted into the opening minutes of the second period as Michael Boivin scored a power play goal to make it 1-1. The key moment came right at the halfway point of the tie game, Fehérvár had a two man advantage that Bence Sziányi scored a rocket on. For the rest of the period Fehérvár looked like the stronger team however Debrecen fought hard. In the opening minutes of the last period Johan Ejdepalm made it 3-1, from there on out Debrecen was not able to get back in it. Frank Banham scored a power play goal to make it 4-1, István Bartalis made it 5-1. The reason why that goal was important because it gave Fehérvár a four goal lead with under ten minutes to go and it gave coach Rob Pallin an opportunity to give Zoltán Hetényi a chance to play in a game for the first time since last years world championships. Hetényi had missed all of the season after being hospitalized with a serious illness. He pitched a shutout for the rest of the game with Ladislav Sikorcin and Andrew Sarauer having a tap in goal each to make the final score 7-1.
Rob Pallin-”In the first period I saw on a couple of guys that EBEL playoff loss was still in their heads and they were not concentrating. After the first period I told the guys that this Cup was important, from there on out everything was fine. With regards to Zoltán Hetényi that he is a great fighter and I saw what he went through, in my mind not only is he a great player but a great person as well.”
Frank Banham-”These games are important for our club, its to prove who is the best team in Hungary, we had a great season and we want to finish the season strong. We controlled the game for the most part, most of their opportunities were off of our mistakes, we were able to fought back and stuck to our game plan. Its inspiring to us how Zoli fought back to get back onto the ice, it gave me chills to see him on the ice, I told the guys that we have to play for him and not to turn over the puck.”
Zoltán Hetényi-”I was very happy that I was able to be back with the team, it was a treat that I could be on the bench and actually step on the ice as well. Coach said that I was subbing in, no questions asked so I was happy. I plan to stay healthy for a long time, the doctors gave me the clean bill of health but I wont be 100% until I get my match fitness back.”
Jevegnyi Muhin-”Fehérvár was a lot better, they were faster and individually they were better as well, they were great skaters and this tired us out. We took too many penalties and because of this it was hard for us to play out own game.”
Balázs Ladányi-“All season our strength was the tactics that the coach had draw up for us. Today was no different we had a game play to beat Fehérvár, of course one could argue that they are a more talented team, we didn't worry about that we just stuck to our game plan. For two thirds we were in the game but in the end penalties killed us.”
Schedule
Friday
Saturday
15:30 DAB.Docler-Debrecen
19:00 Fehérvár-Miskolc