István Sofron was born in Csíkszereda but moved to Fehérvár at a very young age when his father signed with there to play hockey. He came up through the youth system and eventually played for the pro club in the EBEL. During the 2011-12 season he lead the league in goals, after establishing himself as one of the top forwards in the league he moved on to the DEL where he played in Krefeld where he spent the parts of three seasons. He came back to the EBEL with Klagenfurt for the end of the 2015-16 season. His second stint with Fehérvár was for only the 2016-17 season. Last year he decided to try his luck in North America and signed with the Wichita Thunder in the ECHL but came back to the EBEL where he teamed up with fellow national team forward Andrew Sarauer in Villach.
Sofron represented Hungary at the U20 World Championships and made his senior national debut during the 2007-08 season. He has played in seven World Championships, including the 2015 Division 1/A World Championships where Hungary finished second and won promotion to the A-Pool, and the 2016 A-Pool World Championships in St.Petersburg, Russia. He has pulled on the national team jersey in 112 matches.
What were the reasons that brought you back to Fehérvár?
After the World Championships we had talked about sitting and and discussing the idea of maybe me signing with the club. It was over a month before we were able to sit down and talk about the past and a potential future together and what might our mutual goals could be. We had talked about 3-4 times before we got to the point where it looked like we might be able to work together.
This will be your third stint with the club, how much have you changed as a player since 2013, when you left Fehérvár the first time?
SInce then I have played a number of seasons outside of Hungary, I had three years in Germany and I was able to mature as a player, but I also had some season where things did not go the way I had planned but I was able to learn from those experiences. I hope to show the fans what they remember from when I had played in Fehérvár or with the national team.
When you were the leading goal scorer in the EBEL you were lines mates with Márton Vas and Balázs Ladányi, what did you learn from them that you can now pass onto the younger players?
I learned a lot from those two guys when I played on one line with them. They helped my gain confidence and also to learn the system and to find out how I can play to the best of my ability. This gave me a bunch of small tips, in certain situations what should I do, sometimes I should shoot more other times maybe don’t over complicate things. They told me to be confident in my shote. Now I hope that I can help the younger guys on the team and pass on what I had learned and help them to be their best players as well. If I help then in a way will also help me as well and for the team to be better.
How has your off-season conditioning been going?
In the past four seasons I have been getting ready for the season by myself. This started when I was playing in Germany, I would have my work out plan and I would go about my business. I did this also this summer, I have never really had any problems with my conditioning. There are times that I will work out with Dániel Kóger or with some other friends but mostly I am on my own.
What are you expecting from your self and from the team this coming season?
I have some high expectations towards myself and the team, however we can not fall into the trap have having the expectations set too high. The first goal for the team is to make the playoffs, this does not mean that we will be satisfied with making the playoffs, I think this is the minimum that we need to do. The team has missed the playoffs the past few years but with the roster that we have I do not think that it is unreasonable. Last season Bolzano just made it to the playoffs and then surprised everyone by winning the EBEL. For me personally I want to have a prolific season but first I want to help the team win. If they want me to defend more and maybe score less I will do that, if they want me to be the finisher on the power play I will do that. The team is first and I want to win. I hope that we have a good team that comes together and achieves something.
