The preparation for this years Division 1/A world championships that starts on the 19th started on Friday with some scrimmages however there were a couple of players missing.
The players and the coaching staff met at two in the afternoon at the ice rink in Káposztásmegyer where head coach Rich Chernomaz split the squad into two and had interviews with the players just like he had exit interviews after the last training camp. The president of the Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation Miklós Németh also visited the team as well and watched the boys practice.
The purpose of the first day was to shake some rust of the guys since some of the players hadn't had a real on ice practice since their season ended, the staff also wanted to get everyone on the same page with regards to the system that was going to be used.
From the missing players all that can be known is that Gergő Nagy and the K-Wings of the ECHL are still in a battle for the final playoff spot with the regular season ending on the 12th, if they make the playoffs Nagy will not be joining the national team. Márton Vas and Löwen Frankfurt are in a similar situation in the DEL2 playoffs, currently they are down 1-0 but if they win the semifinal series then Vas will not be in Krakow either. Marton’s brother János is a better chance of joining the team, Slavia Praha is fighting against relegation where they are four points clear of the next team. His season would end right when the world championships starts, however if they continue their hot streak and can guarantee that they stay in the Extra league earlier János can be released from his team earlier.
Balázs Sebők will be joining the camp on the 9th after his bronze medal game in the Mestas on the 8th. The rest of the players have arrived in camp, János Hári almost missed hsi flight as he was stuck in traffic in Stockholm and Frank Banham and Andrew Sarauer made it up from Fehérvár as freshly minted Hungarian citizens.
The Hungarian Squad
Goalies (3): BÁLIZS Bence (Miskolci Jegesmedvék) HETÉNYI Zoltán RAJNA Miklós (Fehérvár AV19)
Defensmen (11): KISS Dániel (Újpest) ORBÁN Attila, REITER Attila, SZIRÁNYI Bence, TOKAJI Viktor, VARGA Arnold (Fehérvár AV19), GRÖSCHL Tamás, POZSGAI Tamás, MESTYÁN Tamás (Dab.Docler), GŐZ Balázs (Miskolci Jegesmedvék), VAS Márton (Löwen Frankfurt, DEL2)
Forwards (22): AZARI Zsolt (Dab.Docler), BANHAM Frank, BARTALIS István, BENK András, EREDÉLY Csanád, KOVÁCS Csaba, KÓGER Dániel, MAGOSI Bálint, SÁRPÁTKI Tamás, SARAUER Andrew, SIKORCIN Ladislav, VINCZE Péter, (Fehérvár AV19), HAJÓS Roland, METCALFE Tyler, NAGY Krisztián, TÓTH Adrián (Miskolci Jegesmedvék), BERTA Ákos (Debreceni HK), SEBŐK Balázs (Hokki, FIN2), SOFRON István (Krefeld Pinguine, GER), VAS János (Slavia Praha, CZE) NAGY Gergő (Kalamazoo Wings, ECHL) HÁRI János (MODO, SWE)
Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Rich Chernomaz
Assistant Coaches: Gergely Majoross, Tamás Sille, Diego Scandella
Goalie Coach: Gary Clark
Exhibition game scheduale
Wednesday April 8
18:00 Austria-Hungary (in Vienna)
Friday April 10
19:00 Hungary-Austria (at the Tüskecsarnok)
Sunday April 12
17:00 Hungary Slovenia (at the Tüskecsarnok)
World Championships Schedule
Sunday April 19
13:00 Hungary-Japan
16:30 Ukraine-Kazakhstan
20:00 Poland-Italy
Monday April 20
13:00 Kazakhstan-Hungary
16:30 Italy-Ukraine
20:00 Poland-Italy
Tuesday April 21-Off day
Wednesday April 22
13:00 Kazakhstan-Japan
16:30 Italy-Hungary
20:00 Poland-Ukraine
Thursday April 23
13:00 Japan-Italy
16:30 Ukraine-Hungary
20:00 Kazakhstan-Poland
Friday April 24-Off day
Saturday April 25
13:00 Japan-Ukraine
16:30 Italy-Kazakhstan
20:00 Hungary-Poland