U16: Two wins on the first day in Kamloops

Glen Williamson and the U16 national team opened up match play at the Kamloops International Bantam Ice Hockey Tournament. The first day could not have gone better as Hungary picked up wins against two teams from western Canada.

Hungary-Semiahmo Ravens 12-2

In their first game Hungary took on a team from the Pacific Coast Bantam Hockey League (PCBHL), former players from this relatively new team have moved on to the BCHL, WHL and the NCAA. Head coach Glen Williamson gave Máté Sági the start in the opening game. Hungary started off hot as they scored four goals in the first period alone. Sebestyén Kovács and Bence Páterka scored in the early part of the period with Zsolt Egyedi and Kristóf Rácz in the later part of the period. Semiahmo scored ten seconds into the second period, but Hungary scored twice more to go up 6-1 on a second goal by Kovács and one by Márk Almási. The Ravens scored their second goal in the second period to make it 6-2, however Hungary really brought down the hammer as they scored four more times before the period was over. Finding the back of the net was Almási, Nátán Vértes and Marcell Révész twice. Hungary scored twice more in the third period on goals by András Tóth and Vértes. Each team only had one minor penalty called against them, Sebestyén Kovács and Nátán Vértes each finished with two goals and three assists.

Hungary-Kamloops Jr. Blazers 5-1

In their second game of the opening day Hungary faced one of the local teams, the Jr. Blazers play in the Okanagan Mainline Amateur Hockey Association (OMAHA). Former Jr. Blazers include 2015 New York Rangers second round pick Ryan Gropp, other players are in the WHL and the NCAA. For the second match Glen Williamson gave Lajos Gönczi the start in net. This time around Hungary still won with easy but it was a much lower scoring affair. Kamloops scored first but Hungary answered back 24 seconds later when Marcell Révész put the puck past Xavier Cannon. Hungary took the lead around the midway point of the game on a goal by Sebestyén Kovács, minutes later Kristóf Rácz put Hungary up by two when he put the puck in the back of the cage. Hungary put the game away in the third with two more goals as Nátán Vértes and Márk Almási both scored to set the final at 5-1. Rácz, Révész and Vértes all finished with a goal and an assist a piece.

Hungarian goalie Máté Sági: The first day was great, both games went well for us, the first one was a bit easier than the second one. We won both games, I did not dress for the second game but the environet was outstanding as the game was playing in a full arena. During the opening ceremony there was a glitch as they could not play the Hungarian national anthem. László Horváth stepped up and sang the anthem. The atmosphere around the team is great, and in short today was a great day.