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The Hungarian men’s national ice hockey team, which is about to play in the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I, Group A, starting next Sunday, defeated the elite Norwegian team 2-1 in the inaugural match of the Alba Arena in Székesfehérvár (central Hungary) on Friday.
Nearly 6,000 spectators in the brand new, state-of-the-art Alba Arena awaited the match.
Head coach Don MacAdam’s side, who had lost twice in Poland last week in preparation for the tournament, now hosted the top-flight Norwegians.
The Canadian coach stressed beforehand that they would have to play as a team against the stronger Norwegians, because the national team has no star players and a week ago they did not play as well as they would have liked.
Photo via MTI/Szigetváry Zsolt
Overseas players Zsombor Garát and István Sofron from Miercurea Ciuc (Csíkszereda, Romania) also joined the squad after their club season ended, leaving only Csanád Erdély absent.
At the opening ceremony, Mayor András Cser-Palkovics thanked all those who contributed to the construction and inauguration of the new arena in recent years. In his speech, Ádám Schmidt, State Secretary for Sport, underlined the contribution of Mr. Gábor Ocskay (former hockey player), who has done a lot for the revival of the sport in Székesfehérvár, and through his work a dream has come true- the team is part of international competitions, and now the national team can play in this beautiful facility.
Now, exactly 16 years after that infamous day, Székesfehérvár’s new arena has been inaugurated.
As the match started, the visitors quickly took a man advantage, but it was missed. The hosts picked up the pace, and in the middle of the period, Roland Kiss suffered a shoulder injury after a tackle and a crash. Shortly after, István Terbócs scored the first goal in the arena. In addition, before the break, Bence Bálizs, who is currently playing in Norway and was voted the best goalkeeper of the season, made a solo save.
Photo via MTI/Szigetváry Zsolt
At the beginning of the second half, the hosts had the man advantage, and the puck bounced on the Norwegian goal, then Kristóf Papp increased the difference with a goal after a nice act. However, as he was sent to the penalty bench for obstruction, Viktor Granholm scored, despite a great save from Balizs. It was Norway’s 100th goal against Hungary.
In the final half, the Norwegians had more possession, but the Hungarian team defended well and even managed to create chances.
Photo via MTI/Szigetváry Zsolt
The two sides met again on Saturday. The Hungarian men’s national ice hockey team defeated the elite Norwegian team for the second time, this time 3-2, in Székesfehérvár.
Via MTI; Featured photo via MTI/Szigetváry Zsolt