Player of the Week: Ottó Onodi

2017.10.10. 16:13 |

This past match week there were a couple of teams that pulled did not lose any of their games. However only one that won both their matches against teams that were ahead of them in the standings and only allowed one goal in each of the games. Thanks to saving 96% of the 52 shots he faced SC Csíkszereda goalie Ottó Onodi is this match week’s Player of the Week.

Otto Onodi came up through the youth system of his hometown team of Sport Club in Csíkszereda. He spent one season in Ferencváros where he made his debut in the former MOL League before making the move back to Csíkszereda. Aside from spending the 2013-14 and the 2014-15 seasons that he spent in Galati, he has played in Csíkszerda his entire career. For the national team he has represented Romania at the U18, U20 and the senior World Championships. The past few seasons Onodi has been splitting time with Gellért Ruczuj in net.

Both you and the team had a an excellent two games against Újpest and Dunaújváros, what has been the key to the success?
The team is starting come together, we have had a couple of close games but know the team has come together, we are starting to trust each other.

What has been the environment around the team?
Up until this little winning series we had been a bit stressed, but now that we are winning everything feels great. The players, coaching staff and the fans are feeling great, the arena has been filled and there is a positive feeling around the club. The last few seasons we have not been playing the best, but this year it looks like we are ming in the right direction and I hope we can continue doing this, we know the coach believes in us.

How much does it help a goalie to play such a large amount of games as you are this season and also to have a great goaltending partner?
We have won games both in the ERSTE Liga and the Romanian League so we have won and played large amount of games recently. Which has been tough not for us goalies but also the skaters. We face a large amount of shots in both leagues, we have played six games in eight days. This is a large amount of games for both goalies, but of course when you are winning it's easier.  If we lose a few games that is hard not just for us goalies, but for the entire team.

There are a number of goalies born in Csíkszereda that are starting goalies in the league that are not just playing for Csíkszereda but throughout the league.
We played a number of games not just in Hungary but in Romanian when we were U16 and U18, so we had games to play and to improve. We also got lucky with the coaches we and more importantly we had goalie coaches. I was in one team with Zoltán Tőke, and we had the same coaches. We had Attila Nagy who is the Székely Academy director also Ottó Biró as our coach. Currently we have a goalie coach with the team.

What is your long term plans?
Right now I am a hockey player, I never really plan ahead I go game by game and at the end of the season I will time to look back and see what options I have. But right now I am going game by game because anything can happen in a game. Also for the first time in a long time I am seeing Csíkszereda moving in the right direction which is great to see after the past 5-6 season.