New Captain for the National Ice Hockey Team after Previous One Goes AWOL

Hungary Today 2023.10.25.

The Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation has found an in-house solution to replace Kevin Constantine, who left over the summer despite his ongoing contract. Keeping his current position, acting professional director Don MacAdam will now also work as the federation captain. MacAdam will be assisted by Balázs Ladányi, who is currently in charge of the U20 team, reported Magyar Nemzet.

Kevin Constantine has put the Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation (MJSZ) in a very awkward situation by taking a job in Canada despite his contract still being valid this summer. At the same time, the American professional has also put his club team in an uncomfortable position by leaving. The MJSZ took legal action and Constantine did not avoid prosecution. The Western Hockey League (WHL), a member organization of Canada’s top junior hockey league, banned Constantine as head coach of the Wenatchee Wild for two years for what the official wording described as discriminatory and derogatory remarks. The Constantine chapter is over once and for all in Hungarian hockey, with the MJSZ announcing on its website that Don MacAdam will take over as head coach of the men’s national team until the end of the season.
MacAdam is no stranger to the hockey world. In Hungary, he made his name as head coach of Romanian team Csíkszereda, in 2019, he was asked to become the professional director of youth development at Ferencváros, and from 2021, he was appointed as the development director of the MJSZ, later the sports director.

The Logo of the Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation

Levente Sipos, the general secretary of the MJSZ, said that they had searched for a possible successor to Constantine for a long time, but the professionals they had chosen could not take on the job of Hungarian captain because of their club commitments.

We decided to appoint Don because he has been working in Hungarian hockey for many years, so he knows the players and coaches, the potential, the goals, and the challenges of the sport. He has a wealth of experience and expertise, having worked in the NHL, written books, and taught,”

explained Sipos.

Fact

Don MacAdam (b. 1950) played hockey in the lower divisions of the North American leagues and was under 30 when he became a coach. He first became an assistant coach at the University of New Brunswick in 1976, and then head coach for eight years, being named coach of the year in his first season. He taught and coached in Canada, becoming assistant coach of the Detroit Red Wings in 1986, assisting Jacques Demers. After three seasons with Edmondon, also an NHLer, he joined his farm team and won a championship gold ring as a member of the 1990 Stanley Cup-winning Oilers staff. It was also the club where the most famous hockey player of all time, Wayne Gretzy, played, although the Great One was no longer with the Oilers, joining the Los Angeles Kings in 1988. MacAdam spent the 1990s in the AHL and the 2000s in the ECHL, and coached in Japan for two seasons. He has been working in Europe since 2014.

The Hungarian national ice hockey team was among the elite at the World Championships this year, but was eliminated in a huge battle. In 2024, they will try to qualify for the Division I/A World Championship, which will take place from April 28 to May 4, and will include Hungary and hosts Italy, Slovenia, Romania, Japan, and the Republic of Korea, with two teams making the elite.

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Via Magyar Nemzet; Featured Image: Pixabay