The first game for Debreceni HK of the 2014-15 MOL League season also brought the first win of the newest addition to the league, DHK won in front of the home crowd 5-1 against Újpest. Debrecen did lose their next two games, 6-3 to Hungarian champion DAB.Docler in Dunaújváros and 5-4 to the MOL League runner up and a much improved from last season Brasov squad.
A large reason for this great start has been team captain and last season’s league leader in points and assists with DAB.Docler, Balázs Ladányi, after three games he already has 4 goals and 3 assists which has earned him the honor of being named the season’s first player of the week.
Throughout the season the player of the week, like Balázs will answer a handful of questions for icehockey.hu.
Last year your were the leading scorer and this year you are already up there in second place, does this mean you are able to bring this level of hockey regardless where you are playing?
Yes the season has started rather well for me and I hope I will bring the level that is expected of me throughout the season with Debrecen.
What are the fans like in Debrecen, how have they received icehockey?
There are no complaints about the fans, they are very enthusiastic and provide a great environment. However I do have one request and that would be there more and more fans should attend the games! For our first game against Újpest we had a nice crowd, against Brasov the crowd was a bit sparse when the puck dropped but the stands nicely filled up as the game progressed. The goal would be to have full stands and then eventually expand the seating area but this is a long term project.
What was it like to be back in Dunaújváros?
It was not anything out of the unusually since the last eight years except for last season I was alwasy playing for the visiting team. There are a couple of us in the team that this was more of a homecoming but unfortunately we were not able to pull off the upset.
Were you able to pay attention to the results of the other teams?
I wasn’t able to catch any of the other games. Obviously I am aware of the results. Right now I’m not really worried about the results of the other teams, only the results of our team, as we are concentrating on developing our own style of hockey, until then we cannot focus on anything else. Against Újpest we started great and more or less we were able to maintain that level throughout the game. Against Dunaujváros they caught us sleeping at the beginning of the game where as against Brasov our game was up and down. We will have a clear picture of where we are once we are able to get through the games without ups and downs in our game.
From the other games were there any scores that might have surprised you?
I would say the opening game of the season UTE-Nové Zámky. Újpest was winning but in the end they lost a game that looked like it was in the bag, either way this would have been the surprise of the first week. It is clear that this UTE is not the one from the past couple of seasons, I am referring to not on the roster but also their strength and conditioning as well. This is a type of team that will cause some trouble for the bigger teams, much like what we are like. We would like to be a surprise team in this season.
Photo: László Mudra