The ice is frozen and the rosters are set as Miskolc plays host to the 2013 U-20 Division II A world champions,the Hungarian team is looking for promotion to the next level, Division I B.
As the host nation Hungary has a good chance of winning as they have an experienced squad with a coaching staff that knows their players.
"Clearly our goal is to finish in first place, we have great unity within in the squad," said forward Krisztián Nagy.
The coach of the squad is Rich Chernomaz, who leads senior national team as well. Joining him on the coaching staff are assistant coaches Tamás Sille, Gergely Majoross, and goalie coach Gary Clark. Hungary will be going up against the under twenty teams of Croatia, Lithuania, Estonia, Netherlands and Romania.
"The first game is always a hard one but we took the Netherlands lightly last year and paid for it," added Nagy.
Protecting the cage will be a combination of young and "old" with Olivér Ágoston probably getting the starting nod over Gergely Arany. Ágoston played a number of years in Finland but is now back in Hungary as one of the reserve goalies for Fehérvár in the EBEL as well as playing on the U20 team. Arany like Ágoston also tends goal in the EBYL in Austria in his club, MAC.
The defensemen are all familiar with each other because the players, like the goalies, come from either Fehérvár or MAC. Both of these clubs play in the EBYL as well as the Hungarian U20 championships. The blueliners are lead by four veterans Máté Arany, Gergely Korbuly and Attila Reiter from Fehérvár and Krisztián Dósa from MAC.
This group of forwards will try to draw on their diverse background to score goals. They have played in seven different countries, Hungary, Austria, Slovakia, Sweden, and Finland as well as the U18 in Germany, and junior hockey in the U.S. There are also a handful of players who have also played for the senior squad with the club they play for.
Krisztián Nagy has had the opportunity to play in the MOL League and the Hungarian senior national team already, so look for him to find the back of the net a number of times. Other players who are expected to be scoring threats are Vilmos Galló, Csanád Erdély, Ferenc Kocsis, and Balázs Sebők. And look for hometown boy László Ritó to step it up as well.
Schedule
Sunday December 15th 16:30: Hungary-Lithuania
Monday December 16th 16:30: Hungary-Romania
Wednesday December 18th 16:30: Hungary-Estonia
Friday December 20th 16:30: Hungary-Netherlands
Saturday December 21st 16:30: Hungary-Croatia
Szabolcs Závodszky
@Zavodszky