As the summer is in full swing and the start of the hockey season is just around the corner hockey players are preparing for the start of the season. We will be catching up with a number of players on how their summer has been going and what they have been up to as they prepare for the upcoming season.
It is well known that Balázs moved to Finland at a young age and come up through the Karpat youth system. Since then he has become an irreplaceable part of not only the Hungarian national teams offense but also for KalPa. Last season he finished second on the team in point during the regular season and the playoffs.
How has your preparation for the upcoming season been like?
So far everything has been going well, I came back from Finland about three weeks ago, the first week of that was spent on vacation where I had a chance to rest and I am slowly coming to the end soon and will be going back to Finland. I am actually waiting for the start of the season.
During the off-season does KalPa give you workout plan or do you have your own plan that you do every year?
This summer has been different than in the past, usually I would stay in Hungary after the World Championships until about the end of July. This year I went back to Finland in the middle of May since my girlfriend is working in Finland. I was working with the team for three weeks up there which gave me a good base and they told me what I need to do and what to work on, which I am doing right now.
The past few summers you had worked with a personal trainer, Francisco Escalante, how much is his workout plan different from the one you are doing this year?
Right from the start Fransisco and me found a common ground and I have always really liked his workouts, I can thank a lot to him for the seasons that I have had. This year I am again working with him. I bring him the basic aspects that I need to work on and then we put a plan together.
You mentioned that you were on vacation, for a pro athlete how does this work, how does the time off fit into the off-season conditioning?
It is different for everyone, depending on what they feel works best for them. I personally like to take two weeks off after my last official match and only move when I really need to. I only get up if I need to get something from the fridge, I really just like to let my legs hang. Then I start to build up my workouts. I like to go on vacation during the first week of July, but that is still more of an active vacation where we are walking and doing active things and do a light workout in the mornings.
What are you expecting from you upcoming season? This will be your fourth season with KalPa.
I am really anxious to start the season, I have made my next step up the latter in my career that I wanted to. I would like to be more of deciding factor in the games, I feel I was able to do this in about 80% of the games, next season I want this to be up to 90%-95% this season. I would also really like to win a trophy this season. Last season there were some disappointing moments both with KalPa and the national team. I think KalPa will have a good season this year, we signed some good players during the offseason.
Unlike the past few seasons this year KalPa will not be playing in the Champions Hockey League, you will have less games during the season, how will this help the team?
I personally liked playing in the CHL, these were always good preparation for the season and the games also mattered. Once you made it to the knockout stage we had more important games to play than usual. This year we will have more of the traditional exhibition games, however after Christmas we have the Spengler Cup waiting for us.
Sami Kapanen has been your head coach in KalPa, what is your relationship like with him?
I have a great relationship with him, he is probably the most easy going coach I have had during my career. He had a long playing career in some great clubs but is still a relatively young coach. We hit it off pretty early and I have been playing well for him, I can only say good things about him and now I hope this work we have done together will bear some fruits.
