After losing in in overtime to first place Diósgyőr, MAC Budapest closed out the week with a 4-2 win over Dunaújváros, currently they are sitting in third place, two points behind second place Debrecen. One of the reasons that the expansion team picked up four points was because of Tomáš Klempa setting up his teammates for excellent scoring chances, in doing so he finished with one goal and five assists and because of this he is this week's player of the week.
Tomáš Klempa comes from Piestany Slovakia and played his youth hockey in Popard before moving on to play his junior hockey in the NAHL and the USHL. Klempa represented his home country at the U18 world championships where he was teammates with long time NHL defenseman Andrej Mészáros and goalie Jaroslav Halak. After his junior years spent four season NCAA hockey at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, which was followed by six seasons of minor league hockey. During these years he played a number of players that MOL League fans will find familiar such as Jon Booras, Jesse Dudas, Jarkko Leppanen, Kalvin Sagert and Erik Spady. Last season he played for his hometown team SHK 37 Piestany before moving on to Budapest. Tomáš took time out of his busy schedule to answer some questions for icehockey.hu
What has been the biggest reason for your production burst this week?
I think the biggest reason for my production all season has been because of playing with my linemates Jeff Hayes and Ian McDonald.
How has it been playing with Hayes and McDonald this season?
Playing with Jeff and Ian has been lots of fun so far this season, I think we understand each other on the ice very well and off the ice as well. Our motto this season has been just give the puck to Jeff and watch the magic happen!
What was the reason that you signed with MAC?
I've heard good things about the coaching staff and it was a new organization that I wanted to part of, and of course I have heard lots of great things about Budapest.
What has been your initial opinion of the MOL League?
Overall I think it iss a good league with a number of good players.
What is it like to see former teammates on other teams in the league?
It is just like another game for me when I see them, it can be more motivating to win against them.
Photo: László Mudra - MJSZ