FTC-Telekom has continued where they left off before the international break as they added two more wins to their winning streak. One of the biggest reasons for the two wins was the scoring outburst by Hungarian national team forward Gergő Nagy who finished with 5 goals in two games and is this week’s Player of the Week.
Gergő Nagy, or commonly known as “Biggie” in the hockey community comes from the Hungarian hockey hotbed of Dunaújváros. He grew up with a number of players who he would later play with in the Hungarian national team, players such as István Mestyán, the Hetényi brothers, András Benk, Bálint Magosi and Tamás Pozsgai, among countless others. He would later move onto Fehérvár where he made his pro debut. Nagy spent one season in the RedBull Salzburg youth system with Hungarians such as Dániel Kóger, Péter Hetényi, Ádám Fekti, Dávid Kiss and Balázs Somogyi. He would go back to Fehérvár but during his career he would have stints in Miskolc and Nové Zámky before going to North America. In two seasons in North America he played in the CHL, ECHL and made it up to the AHL. This was followed up with a season in Fehérvár and parts of two seasons with MAC. Last year he finished out the season in the ECHL and this offseason he signed with FTC-Telekom. With the national team he represented Hungary at the U18 and U20 levels and has played for Hungary in five senior World Championships, two of which were in the A-Pool.
Both you and Ferencváros have been playing great the last few weeks, what has been the key to the success?
I think it's just that we are working really hard and everyone is doing their part. Now we are reaping the benefits of this. For me personally things are clicking and I am really happy. I had the chances but the puck wasn’t bouncing my way, but I think the international break helped me.
This Fradi team is pretty much a new team different from last season with 16 new players, how come the team has come together so fast and what is the chemistry like?
I don’t think there is any secret to this, we all get along well and like each other. Most of us know each other from being teammates in the past or playing against each other. Of course there are some young guys who had to get used to the pace of this league and I think we are on the right path to do well and we are taking things game by game.
How much as the level of the ERSTE Liga changed with the movement of the teams in the league?
I do not think the league has changed at all, of course two really good teams have left but I have not felt a change in the league. Vasas and HK Budapest are not at the same level as a MAC and a DVTK, but they give the opportunity for young Hungarian players to play top level hockey.
How much pressure is on you and the team to always win the next game and to extend the streak?
I don’t think we have any added pressure, it is always great to have goals within the team. We are never really looking at if we will win the 13th, 15th or the 3rd game in a row. We are always looking at the gnext game, which this Friday will be Dunaújváros. We are expecting to win in front of our home fans. This is an important game since Csíkszereda is now one point behind us.
