U18 National team coaching staff set

Bence Svasznek how was the head coach of the U16 team last season was promoted to the U18 national team this past offseason. This coming year he will be working with three assistant coaches and a goalie coach. His staff will be made up of assistants Tamás Gröschl, Viktor Tokaji and Csaba Virág with Csaba Székely as the goalie coach.

Tamás Gröschl will be in his first season as the head coach of the U18 team for KMH Budapest. Last year he was one of the assistants on Bence Svasznek’s U16 coaching staff that won the Richmond International Bantam Midget Hockey Tournament. “Tamás Gröschl will also be working with the forwards but he will be more concentrating on puck possession and supporting the attack and having the forwards make the right decision with the puck. He will also be working on our faceoffs and the tactics behind it, when to win the puck back at the faceoffs or when to go forward.” Svasznek also commented about the playing style of his former teammate and what the young players can learn from him. “As a player he played everywhere on the ice both as a forward and as a defenceman, he knows the details into playing this game. He was one of the few players that did the things that an average fan might not notice, he was great in the corners and in front of the net, blocked shots. It was the type of play that might go unnoticed. I need him on the staff to pass this kind of work onto the kids. Gröschl will also be our video coach who will be doing the live tagging of games.”

Viktor Tokaji will be starting his first season in pro hockey as a coach, as he was recently named as one of the assistant coaches for MAC Budapest who will be playing their first season in the Slovak Extraliga. With the Hungarian Youth Development Program he had been an assistant coach on the U25 team and was one of Glen Williamson’s assistant coaches at this past years Division 1/B World Championships in Kiev, Ukraine. “Viktor Tokaji will be working with the defenseman, I want to give everyone a responsibility within the coaching staff, Tokaji will be working with the play in the defensive zone and our penalty kill. There is not that much to say about Tokaji, he is well known and as Gergely Majoross said about him in an interview he is one of the most talented coaches in Hungary with a great playing past and has the respect of the players and puts his full heart into his work.” said Svasznek about Tokaji.

Csaba Virág will be be starting his second season as the head coach of the U20 team for UTE. Last season he was also one Bence Svasznek’s assistants on the U16 team that won the Richmond International Bantam Midget Hockey Tournament. “We were looking at Hungarian coaches and the U20 staff was put together first and then I had the chance to pick the best coaches who were available.” Svasznek continued with by saying, “I think that Csaba Virág is one of the best youth coaches in Hungary, he is the U20 head coach with his club. Virág will be responsible for our power play and the work we will be doing in the offensive zone.”

Csaba Székely will be starting his first season as the goalie coach for Vasas in the ERSTE LIga. In the past he had worked with lower age groups in the Hungarian Youth Development System, but this will be his first year with the U18 national team. “Csaba Székely, like the rest of the staff is a talented coach, I think that he is one of the best goalie coaches in Hungary. We want to give him a chance to prove what he can does, he has a great work ethic that will help our goalies.”

Bence Svasznek also had one last final comment about how the work will be done within the coaching staff. “In the end I have the final decision but my staff will support me in all of my work, they will have their import in what hopefully will be a successful season.”

Hungarian U18 National Team Coaching Staff:
Head coach: Bence Svasznek
Assistant Coaches: Tamás Gröschl, Viktor Tokaji, Csaba Virág
Goalie Coach: Csaba Székely