The Hungarian team defeated Austria and with the win they won the Olympic Hopefuls Tournament with an undefeated record.
“We played against a really good Austrian team, this win was important because at the World Championships we will be playing similar games.” said assistant coach András Horváth.
Getting the start in net for the last game of the tournament was Máté Garbacz, who tried to keep pace with his two goalie mates with also picking up a win. In the end Hungary defeated Austria by the score of 3-1, Miklós Gyurgyev, Patrik Kiss and Ákos Nagy were the three goal scorers.
“In the first period we played a bit scared but our defence played great as the first period ended 0-0. In the second period we started to take over the game, we started use our physicality more, we started to hit but we stayed disciplined which lead to us being up by two goals. We worked hard for this one.” continued Horváth. “In the third period we were on our heels somewhat and we were trying to concentrate on our defending, which is not always the best idea in a situation like this. You should keep the opponent under pressure and not give them any space. We did let in a shorthanded goal off of a long shot which put some pressure on us in the third period. We were able to maintain the one goal lead and in the end an empty net goal sealed the win.”
Icehockey.hu also asked teh newest member of the coaching staff to talk about what it was like to work both with the U17 adn U18 national teams. “In the past two weeks we worked with 70-80 players who are competing for a roster spot for the world championships. I am happy to say that they will have a lot of hard work in front of them and it won't be easy to make the team. There were a number of positive examples of players having the right attitude, understanding the system and being disciplined. It was great to see that everyone wants to develop and they are trying to do what the coaching staff is asking from them. They still need to work on staying disciplined within the system. We also need to learn how to take everything seriously so that we can come home with the gold from Asiago.”
Scores
Hungary-Poland 5-4
Hungary-Slovakia 7-0
Hungary-Austria 3-1