BUDAPEST – For many years, Hungarian ice hockey has stood at the doorway of increasing its prestige in the international hockey community. Currently ranked 21st in the world by the IIHF, Hungary has often watched in frustration as several lower-ranked nations have gained on its program while the Hungarians have been unable to close the gap between themselves and rivals ranked several spots higher.

Among outsiders, there are often two associated with Hungarian hockey. On the positive end, goaltender Levente Szuper represents the potential for Hungary to produce talent that is able to compete at the sport’s higher levels.

Budapest native Szuper was the first (and so far only) Hungarian-born and trained player ever to earn a spot on a National Hockey League game-day roster. While he never got to play in a game, the now 27-year-old netminder served as a backup goaltender for the Calgary Flames in nine games during the 2002-03 season. Last year, he and Alba Volan keeper Krisztian Budai provided second-place Hungary with some the top goaltending seen at the 2007 IIHF World Championship Division I Group B tournament.

On the flip side, the general lack of worldwide attention given to Hungarian hockey has meant that the only things many non-Hungarians hear about the sport in the country are stories tied to controversy or negativity.  For instance, infamous bank robber Attila Ambrus was hardly representative of the typical Hungarian hockey player or the country’s program, yet the former Ujpesti Budapest goaltender’s story is better known by many than the accomplishments of the country’s top national team players.

The Hungarian hockey program has taken strides to bolster both the quantity and quality of players who move through the junior levels and compete successfully beyond the nation’s borders. Part of the solution lies in emphasizing increased player development at the youth and junior levels. Beyond this, the Hungarians have expanded the exposure their teams receive to playing against competition that challenges them to improve.

Austrian league participation sets higher goals

Within Hungary’s domestic OB1 league, Alba Volan Szekesfehervar has been the dominant club since the dawn of the new millennium. In the late 1990s, Alba Volan usurped the dynasty of the historically dominant FTC Budapest club and has since created a dynasty of its own. Alba Volan recently won its sixth consecutive Hungarian championship and eighth title in the last 10 years.

More significantly, the 2007-08 season marked the first time Alba Volan competed in Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga. The Austrian circuit, which also includes Slovenian clubs Olimpija Ljubljana and Acroni Jesenice, is without question a significant step up in competition from OB1.  

Casual observers may say that Alba Volan was in over its head trying to compete against the likes of league champion Red Bull Salzburg (which recently defeated Olimpija for the 2008 title amidst a firestorm of controversy over a forfeited victory for the Slovenian club in the series’ fourth game). The champions, after all, are one of the wealthier clubs in Europe and the circuit’s six other Austrian clubs and two Slovenian teams have greater talent at their disposal than Alba Volan.

As expected, the Hungarian team finished in last place in the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga by a large margin. The club lost 35 of its 42 games. Alba Volan by far had the league’s weakest offensive attack and allowed the most goals in the league. Even the ninth-place Graz 99ers finished the campaign with 30 more scored, five fewer allowed, and 17 more wins (10 in regulation, five in overtime and two in shootouts).

But Alba Volan did not enter the Austrian league with pretensions of being a top club. Rather, its participation has given the top Hungarian club the opportunity to play tougher competition, which is the only way to get better. Even if the early results are discouraging, it helps show specific areas where the Hungarians need to improve. Things won’t turn around quickly, but in the long term Alba Volan (and the Hungarian program) may benefit.

Meanwhile, during the OB1 regular season, Alba Volan iced a club of developmental players. The team finished sixth in the seven-club league, but the key players on Alba Volan’s Erste Bank Liga roster returned for the playoffs. The recent Hungarian finals saw Alba Volan defeat Romanian club HC Miercurea Ciuc in four straight games. The decisive 6-0 victory in Szekesfehervar was played in front of a capacity crowd of 3,500 fans.

Eye on Sapporo and beyond

In a few weeks, the Hungarian national team will pack its bags and head to Sapporo, Japan, for the 2008 IIHF World Championship Division I Group B. Coming off last year’s second-place finish, in which Team Hungary’s lone defeat came at the hands of Anze Kopitar’s Slovenian team, the Hungarians hope to build on their performance.

The Hungarians, Ukrainians and the host Japanese are the three most significant challengers vying to win the tournament and earn a promotion to the top level. The event, which also features Estonia, Lithuania and recently promoted Croatia, represents a huge challenge for Team Hungary. The Hungarian national team will have shorter preparation time immediately before the tournament than it has had in previous years.

“I am a little concerned with the preparation camp for the World Championship as it will be a brief one,” national team coach Pat Cortina told the Hungary Ice Hockey Federation’s official site. “We usually have 20 to 25 training days and four or five very challenging exhibition games. This year, we will only play three games and we will only have 11 to 14 training days.”

Part of the reason for the shorter preparation is to manage the cost of sending a team to Japan. The other part of the reason is that many of the Hungarian players have played an extended slate of games with their club teams.

“I know the [Hungarian] Federation has tried hard to give us adequate training conditions considering all the difficulties. I hope it will be enough,” said Cortina, who is also the head coach of Austrian club HC Innsbruck.

As one way to counterbalance the shorter pre-tournament time, the Hungarians have tried to expand the national team’s participation in international events during the season.

Hungary hosted the four-nation Pannon Cup tournament played last December. The tournament, which was televised live in Hungary, also featured Ukraine, Japan and Poland. The Hungarians finished second, defeating Ukraine and Poland but losing to Japan.

Cortina invited not only players from the Hungarian teams to the Pannon Cup but also Hungarian national team players in other leagues, including Szuper (now with the Milano Vipers of the Italian league), Tamas Sille of Slovakian club HC Skalica, Daniel Fekete from Norwegian team Trondheim IK and Viktor Szelig, Marton Vas and Balazs Lada from French club HC Briancon. Just as important, some of the younger Hungarian players given a chance to play showed they could compete effectively.

In early March, the Hungarians traveled to the Netherlands to play a multi-national tournament in Tilburg. Team Hungary once again took second place, performing well against both the hosts and Croatia but was derailed against Ukraine by a poor first period from which the Hungarians were unable to recover.

While the upcoming Sapporo tournament marks a tremendous opportunity and challenge for Hungarian hockey, the Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation is also trying to expand the possibilities for its junior teams.

Hungary has quietly assembled a solid U20 team that posted a respectable fourth-place showing at the 2008 IIHF World U20 Championship Division I. Most notably, Hungarian goaltender Zoltan Hetenyi, defenders Peter Erdelyi and David Jobb and forwards Nikandrosz Galanisz, Istvan Sofron, Balint Magosi, and Akos Kiss all put in strong performances.

Likewise, the Hungarian U18 team has done well at the 2008 IIHF World U18 Championship Division II in Tallinn, Estonia. With one game left in the tournament, Hungary’s only blemish was a narrow 3-4 loss to Spain. The Hungarians played well in defeating Estonia and Spain and routed a badly overmatched Team Israel by a 19-1 score. Hungary’s remaining game is against Great Britain.

BILL MELTZER