Hungarian right winger Istvan Sofron played in the DEL and CHL this past season for the Krefeld Pinguine. With the team's season now finished, he is set to represent his homeland in the Division IA World Championship in Krakow, Poland from 19 to 25 April.

by Luke Fisher

BUDAPEST – Having spent his entire career in Székesfehérvár, Hungarian national team player Istvan Sofron made the decision in the summer of 2013 to move to Krefeld, Germany, and this season as a member of the ‘Penguine’ became the first Hungarian player to take to the ice in the Champions Hockey League and recorded five points in six games. We caught up with the 27-year-old right winger after Hungary’s 3–2 warm-up win over Austria ahead of the Division IA World Championship.

Firstly, your national team has just beaten Austria twice, when you hadn’t beaten them for 38 years! You must be full of confidence heading to Krakow.

Yeah, we’d not beaten Austria for 38 years and now we won the last two games – it’s unbelievable! It’s a good feeling to win these two games before the World Championships.

You’d played in Hungary for your whole career until moving to Germany. How was it for you to start afresh in a new country?

It was hard for me in the first season, because it was the first time I’d played abroad – the language was hard for me too and everything was new. But after the first year, I’m feeling better and confident because I know the city and the team – speaking English a bit better too – so the second year was so much better.

You’ve played in the EBEL for Székesfehérvár and now the DEL for Krefeld. How do you compare the leagues to each other?

Yeah, it wasn’t a big step but the DEL is better because there are better teams and there is a lot more money for the national players and the imports. Everybody is bigger, faster, and stronger and that was the main difference for me.

In the early season you played in the CHL. How was that experience to play teams from other countries?

It was nice, because we played against a very good Swedish team (Skellefteå AIK) and it was a good learning experience for us before the DEL season started. That’s why I’m really waiting for next season to start now, because I think the Champions League is a really good idea and I’m very happy that we can play in it. 

Krefeld didn’t do very well this year in the CHL, being eliminated in the Group Stage. How did you see the games?

We played several close games, and many times we were just unlucky. Twice we were leading and lost in the last period, and one time we travelled the same day as playing, which was hard. Maybe next year we will have more luck but they were close games.

Are there any teams that you would like to play, or countries to visit, next time?

Last year we travelled to Sweden and Denmark, so I don’t know… maybe Finland again, but it doesn’t matter because we can play against really good teams and learn so much.

Heading to Krakow, what are you and Team Hungary’s expectations for the tournament?

Krakow is coming fast, and it’s going to be a very hard World Championship. I think this year is the hardest one because every team is so close. Japan, Poland – who are playing at home – Italy, Ukraine, etc. are very good, so we could go to the Elite Group, or we could lose a couple of games. But if we play like we did today, everyone working hard, then I think we could have a chance at promotion to the Elite Group.