With eleven players from the win2day ICE Hockey League, Hungary starts the World Cup against Finland on Saturday in Zurich (Switzerland). In their second game the Hungarians will face Austria. Captain Csanád Erdély talks about the preparation, the start and the duel with the ÖEHV team.
With a win against Kazakhstan, the Hungarians secured relegation in the top division at last year’s World Cup. Now they will face the USA, hosts Switzerland, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Austria and Great Britain in this year’s title fights in Zurich. The preparation did not go as desired, at least in terms of results, as only one of the nine test games so far was won (3:2 against Poland). There will be another test against Canada in Neuchâtel on Wednesday. “We used the preparatory games to further develop our system for the World Cup. The results did not meet our expectations, but the most important thing was that we concentrated on ourselves. The special teams will be crucial in this tournament. That’s why we focused intensively on them, especially in the last few days,” reports captain Csanád Erdély, one of eleven Hungarian players from the win2day ICE Hockey League. Six players from Hydro Fehérvár AV19 and five from FTC-Telekom are in head coach Gergely Majoross’ squad.
Games against Finland and Austria at the weekend
At the start, the Hungarians will face Finland on Saturday afternoon, and Erdély is already looking forward to it: “The first game at every World Cup is something very special and sets the direction for the rest of the tournament. That’s why we want to approach the game against Finland with exactly this attitude. I am convinced that the work of the last four weeks in training has prepared us well for the start of the tournament.”
Just 24 hours later, on Sunday, there will be a clash with Austria. The two nations met in February at the three-nation tournament in Oslo (Norway), the ÖEHV team won 4-1. The last World Cup duel took place three years ago in Tampere, Finland, when the Austrians prevailed in the penalty shootout and thus secured relegation – Hungary, however, had to be relegated. “I expect another very close game. Of course most of us know the Austrian players and they know us – so there will be no surprises. I think that two very strong teams will meet. We definitely have to be very disciplined, not take unnecessary penalties and should try to play the majority of the game at five-on-five, as that is one of our strengths,” said Erdély.
ice.hockey , Image: HCI/PAPA Productions
