The last team that Hungary will face during the three day EIHC tournament in Gdansk, Poland is the Italian national team.
The game will be a hard fought match since both teams have a chance of winning the tournament still. The Hungarian and Italian teams have a bit of a history with each other since the last two times Hungary has hosted a World Championships the Italians have won promotion in front of them.
As usual Italian head coach Tom Pokel has assembled a very talented team that has gained experience in almost every part of the hockey playing world. The team reflects the playing style of their coach.
”The team is made up of well skating technical players who can pick up the physical side of the game as well,” said Krisztián Nagy, who played against the Italians at the world championships last April.
The number one keeper on the roster is the same one as who Hungary has faced in the past, former draft pick of the Buffalo Sabers in 2005, Adam Dennis. Dennis brings lots of experience from the AHL, Germany and Italy, he should also be familiar for some of the Hungarian players since he plays for Dornbirn in the EBEL this season. The other two netminders are not as experienced, Andreas Bernard has played for the national team in the past, but Gianluca Vallini, if he plays will be making his debut for the national team.
On the blueline the experienced Trevor Johnson will probably be paired up with Daniel Sullivan again. The other names that should be familiar to the Hungarians are veteran defenseman Christian Borgatello, Armin Helfer and Armin Hofer. When speaking about the defenders Nagy said “The Italian team play with an aggressive attacking style, on top of that their defensemen also tend to forecheck which makes it hard for the attacking team to break out.”
The group of forwards are missing a couple of familiar names but this has given the opportunity for young guys as well as players who have picked up their citizenships to show what they bring to the table. Sean Bentivoglio who played for the New York Islanders and former Pittsburgh Penguins draft pick Brian Ihnacek will be joining the quartet of Dan Tudin, Rob Sirianni, Nate DiCasmirro and Vince Rocco, who happens to be teammates with István Bartalis at Troja-Ljungby in Sweden. The rest of the forward lines will be rounded out by Italians who have been part of the national team for a number of years.
One thing is for sure is that this will not be an easy game for neither team.
“They are a hard nosed disciplined team that will not stop playing until the final buzzer,” Nagy said. Both coach will be testing new line combinations and defensive pairings and seeing what works and what doesn't work for their respective teams. In this case winning isn't the ultimate goal but it could be the ice cream on the cake.
EIHC-tournament, Gdansk, Day 3
17.00: Hungary-Italy
20.45: Poland-Belarus
Words: Szabolcs Závodszky @Zavodszky
Photo: László Mudra