The purple and white look to shake things up. After the last couple of seasons finishing at the bottom of the table Újpest looks to change things up and have their sight set on the MOL League playoffs.
In the offseason Újpest replaced their coaching staff and brought in former DAB.Docler forward and assistant coach Zoltán Szilassy who had been coaching the youth teams at UTE. Szilassy is considered a bright young coach who has a lot of upside a big future ahead of him.
“We have a new coach this season and everything has been good, the team has a nice environment and we can learn a lot from Zoltán and it is great to play for him,” UTE forward Róbert Dömötör.
After playing in 35 out of the 48 games in net last season Jozsef Pleszkán looks to have a lighter workload and be able to stay fresh both mentally and physically since UTE has brought in Oliver Ágoston who is a young capable goalie. Look for Pleszkán and Ágoston to split the games 55/45 respectively.
Újpest gave up a league high 241 goals last season, this number should be a lot lower this year since the young defencemen are a year older and have brought in some size and experience in Miroslav Durak a 1999 draft pick of the Nashville Predators. The 33 year old Durak finished up last season in the Slovak Extra league. The 20 year old Ádám Garbacz could have a breakout year with his 190 cm and 96 kg frame.
Much like on defence Újpest had some deficiencies in the scoring department as well, however it looks like they have brought in the right type of players to help this problem. Both David Coleman and Csaba Virág, who were tied for the team lead in scoring, are back to improve upon last season.
“We have become stronger as a team. It's good to bring the average age higher. With that we gain confidence and experience,” said Coleman.
Management has also gone out and picked up a number of MOL League veterans such as Ádám Z. Hegyi and Arnold Feil from DAB and Ferencváros as well as Jozef Mihálik who spent parts of two seasons with DAB a couple of years back. Two veteran Finns, who have been known to find the back of the net in their careers, should also be a great help for the purple and white. Teemu Elomo was drafted by the Dallas Stars in 1997 and Jussi Tapio who has played in a number of top leagues throughout Europe.
Coleman continues on “Zoltán is a good coach, and he is doing a great job of getting the team ready I think. He is positive and hard working. He wants the best for us and he works hard for that. A big aspect that Zoltán is working on implementing is all around a better team. A better team from chemistry, structure on the ice, positivity, common goals and discipline.”
Dömötör said it the best when explaining what the team will be like in the upcoming season “I believe that we will surprise a lot of people this year we have a stronger team this season.”
Photo: László Mudra