A slow skate to greatness
Hungarian hockey ambles toward a comeback
written by Sean Condon

When the Hungarian men’s ice hockey team came from behind to upset an overconfident Slovakia 4-2 at the ‘Six Nations Ice Hockey Tournament’ in November 2003, it was as though David had slung Goliath. Was it just a lucky happenstance or the first sign of an ailing sport coming back to life?

Slovakia, which boasts some of the top players in the National Hockey League (NHL), is ranked fifth in the world by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and won the 2002 IIHF World Championships. Meanwhile, no Hungarian has ever skated in the world’s premier league, the NHL. The country is ranked 22nd worldwide and does not even compete among the top pool at the World Championships; usually playing a division or two under the elite 16 teams, and several levels below most people’s radar. But the surprise win over Slovakia at Budapest’s Astra Zeneca Ice Hall in early November helped Hungary finish second in the tournament, surpassing their original goal of challenging for third place.
Zoltán Kovács, general secretary of the Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation (MJSZ), says the defeat over the heavily favored Slovaks "belongs as one of the greatest results the Hungarian national team has achieved in its 76-year history," and is considered Hungary’s greatest upset since tying hockey giants Canada 1-1 at the 1938 World Championships in Prague. But the decades between those two games, Hungarian hockey fans haven’t had much to cheer about.

In the spotlight
After decades of obscurity, however, Hungarian hockey is witnessing a revival. In the past four years alone, Hungary not only had its top three players drafted into the NHL, but doubled its number of ice rinks and racked up several victories over stronger teams.
In the summer of 1999, hockey, or ‘jégkorong’ in Hungarian, awoke with a jolt, when one of its best-known players was busted for a string of armed robberies. Goaltender Attila Ambrus, better known as "the Whiskey Robber," was charged with 29 dramatic hold-ups across Budapest, and the Transylvanian-born hockey player-turned-bank robber became a Hungarian folk hero known for his brashness, showmanship and charm. He downed shots of whisky before each heist, gave flowers to female bank tellers and pulled off daring escapes through the back streets of Budapest. Ambrus, who had previously won a sportsmanship award for the Hungarian National Hockey team, used team practices as his alibi. For better or worse, the media frenzy gave hockey some much-needed animation and attention.

Ferenc Studniczky, president of the Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation, is devising a plan to revive the sport and is lobbying for more financial support

That same summer, Hungarian hockey made history when Tamás Gröschl became the first Hungarian ever to be drafted in the NHL. The speedy right-winger barely made the cut when the Edmonton Oilers picked him in the 9th round (256th overall). Gröschl only attended the draft ceremonies on the advice of his agent, to see how the process worked.
After being selected, a surprised Gröschl admitted to a perplexed Edmonton press: "Hungarian hockey is terrible."
His outlook appears to have changed these days. "When I started playing, we only had open rings and the level of play was pretty weak. But year by year, Hungarian hockey gets better and better," says Gröschl. "Like in the game with Slovakia, we have started to surprise few of the higher level teams. Sometimes we are lucky, but when you get lucky too many times, it becomes a fact."
Although Gröschl was drafted to the NHL, a draftee can wait several years before he is called up to play in the league. And many times, draftees are cut before ever having the chance to skate in the NHL. Such was the case with Gröschl, who today plays in the Hungarian league after a few years in Sweden and Germany.
As Hungary basks in the glow of its recent victory, it is important to note that the Slovak team it beat was not the same that competes at large, international tournaments. It was missing the all-star NHL players that make up its ‘A’ team, as well as players from the top European leagues comprising its ‘B’ team. In fact, it consisted of many young Slovaks who play in local hockey leagues, and who more realistically make up the country’s ‘C’ team. At the same time, the Hungarian squad largely stacked with the best Hungary has to offer, minus a few notable exceptions.

A past to remember
Aside from recent strides, however, Hungarian hockey has a long way to go. The sport has received little financial funding from the government or private sponsors, it has an anemic infrastructure, and usually draws puzzled looks from outsiders when told there is a team to begin with. But it wasn’t always this way. Hungary skated some extremely talented teams during the late 1920s and 1930s and consistently finished in the top 10 at World Championships. These teams were led by star goaltender István Hircsák who was considered the best in Europe at the time and is credited as the hero of the historic Hungary-Canada tie. It was after World War II when Hungary virtually disappeared from the world’s hockey map – a bit of an anomaly considering Hungary bordered two of the greatest hockey nations of all time: Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union. While hockey flourished in neighboring communist republics, it all but froze up in Hungary. "In the 20s and 30s, the conditions were very similar for everyone, since most countries did not have indoor rinks. This meant that no one could practice in the summer and could only develop their players in the winter," says Kovács. "Later on, in the 40s and 50s, the Czechs and the Germans started building their indoor rinks and we began to lose our competitive advantage. The world passed us very quickly." Hungary did not build its first proper covered ice rink until 1991 in the southwestern city of Székesfehérvár. There are now three others, one in Szeged and two in Budapest – including the 2,000-seat Astra Zeneca, which opened in June. With most games still being played in outdoor rinks, it is difficult for players to train in harsh weather conditions and even harder to gets fans and future talent interested in the sport.
Hungary’s most recent player to be drafted in the NHL is János Vas, a skilled and aggressive young winger who was chosen in 2002 by the Dallas Stars in the second round (32nd overall). He says that while the national team has improved, its talent pool is too shallow. "The national team is made up of just three Hungarian league teams. Everywhere else in the world you need at least need 10 teams for competitive matches," says Vas, who currently plays in Sweden and is quite possibly Hungary’s best shot to be called up to play in the NHL. "It’s still going to be a long time before Hungary can play at the top level."
Hungary’s hockey federation, the MJSZ, is trying to lead the push forward by recently appointing Ferenc Studniczky, CEO of OTP Országos Egészségpénztár, as its president. The banker says he has a three-point-plan that will put Hungarian hockey back on track – control the budget, establish strong national and junior teams, and build more rinks. Studniczky says none of this can be done unless hockey gets more financial support. The MJSZ receives between HUF 5-6 million a year from the government, less than 10% of its HUF 60 million annual budget and mainly has to rely on private sponsorship. Although this puts more pressure on hockey to have a public presence, it seems to be beginning to work. The hockey federation secured a deal from Borsodi beer this year, worth about 15% of its budget, to sponsor a six-team league. Kovács says they are also in the midst of making a deal with either Sport 1 or Hungarian National TV (MTV) to start showing league games on television.

We need more supermen
Hungary also has a new star goalie in town. Levente Szuper, known as ‘szuperman,’ is sitting on the doorstep of the NHL. He is currently playing for the St. Louis Blues’ minor league team and even spent a month and a half with the NHL’s Calgary Flames, but did not get a chance to play. Szuper also had an impressive junior career, leading the Ottawa 67s to win the Memorial Cup, Canada’s premier junior tournament. It took him a few years, however, for the Calgary Flames to pick him up, in the fourth round (116th overall) of the 2000 draft. "When I didn’t get picked everyone kept telling me that it was because I was Hungarian," says Szuper. "No team wanted to take a chance on me because Hungarian hockey was such an unknown territory. They thought maybe I was lucky or my team is what made me good.

But all this only inspired me to play better hockey." Partly because of his name, but mainly because of his aerobatics saves, Szuper has become the poster boy for Hungarian hockey. His face and name are featured on all sorts of merchandise. His popularity is helping give hockey a boost in Hungary and he has become the important star needed to attract young fans. Whether it is Szuper, Vas or a young unknown to become the first Hungarian to the NHL, it looks for certain that historic moment will be another step toward Hungary’s climb back up the international hockey ladder. On Feb. 4, Hungary will play a friendly match against the Canadian national team, their first meeting since 1938. Canada will again be heavily favored, although the team will consist of its European league players. Kovács says he is cautious about the outcome, but is leaving the door open for the impossible.
" This will be a great promotion for Hungarian hockey and our guys will try to do their best not to lose by too many goals," says Kovács. "I would be happy if it was a good, close game … or maybe like Slovakia, we could get another good result."