Hungary for more Hockey!

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

I'm going to be straight up with you guys, I was really into the Winnipeg Jets franchise thread and I was having fun with it but then the file was corrupt! made me sad. Like I said I was having fun with that. However, I don't really want to start a new one with a NHL team. So Alphabetically, on the league loading screen, Austria is the team there and I figured why not try something new since all I've ever played was NHL/AHL/CHL games on EHM.

 

Austrian Erste Bank Hockey League

 

The Erste Bank Eishockey League has been 1923. The team with the most EBEL titles is EC KAC or Klagenfurt Athletics Club. The team has won the EBEL a massive 30 times! The next active team with the most wins are Red Bull Salzburg who have won the league 4 times since 2007. 5 if you count them as the Austrian Champions since they lost to Bolanzo. Pretty big difference between KAC and Salzburg. However KAC have won the only twice since team outside of Austria were included. 

 

Also, the first team listed to choose from is Alba Volan FeVita. Here's something most people don't know, they aren't even an Austrian team! They are from Szekesfehervar, Hungary. This town used to be a capital of Hungary for the middle ages but are now just one of the biggest cities in Hungary. This city has a population of just over 100,000 people and they have only 2 major sports clubs so the FeVita must have a pretty strong following! One club is the one who plays in Austria, and another is the Videoton FC futbol club who play in Hungary's top flight. 

 

Alba Volan FeVita

 

The team was founded in 1960 but didn't start playing meaningful hockey until 1978 when they joined the Hungarian Orszagos Bajnoksag I. They played their 1st season in OB-I in 1977-1978. In 1981 they became the first provincial to win the championship. At the turn of the millennium, the team turned into a powerhouse. From 1998-2012 they had won 12 of the 14 titles. In 2006, the team filed to gain acceptance into the Austrian league for more competition and more coverage. In 2007-2008 they played in their first season in the Austrian League. How did they manage to win the Hungarian league in the years following than? Simple, they played in both league. There are 5 teams in OB-I (Alba being 1 of them) the top 3 teams move into the playoffs with Alba joining them when this happens as the number 1 seed. Interesting right? 

 

Alba didn't fare all to well in their 1st season. They finished last 14 points from 36 games (5 wins, 31 losses, 4 OTL). Not an impressive first showing for the Hungarian champions. The second season showed much improvement by Alba as they finished 9th instead of 10th with 43 points from 54 games (22 wins, 37 losses, 9 OTL). However they missed the playoffs by 9 points. In the 3rd season, they improved again to 6th in the standings making the playoffs. They finished with a record of 25-29-2-7-3-0 for 57 points. They were played the 3rd seeded Vienna Capitals who dispatched them in 5 games. In 2010-2011 the team took a few steps back falling to 9th with a record of 21-26-7 for 49 points, missing the playoffs by 3 points. The teams leading scorer was Balasz Ladanyi who had 22 goals and 38 assists for 60 points in 54 games. In 2011-2012 the league had a difference structure. After 40 games the team would be placed within 2 'divisions' with the top 6 going into 1 group with the last 5 go into the other group. The top 6 teams would play eachother 2 more times (home and away) and the bottom 5 would be playing the same thing but the top 2 in terms of point would make the playoffs. Alba would finish 3rd in this group despite barely making it and would be the 3rd seed. They would face Olimpia Ljubljana who would defeat them in 6 games. *Orli Znojmo was the 11th team added to the league from Czech Republic. In 2013-2014 the team took a step back finishing 9th with a 21-20-3 record. The team finished 2nd to last in qualification rounds and didn't make the playoffs at all. The team has yet to win a playoff series. *Dornbirner EC was added as the 12th team this season* In the 2013-2014 season, Alva kept goign to wrong way finished 10th after 40 games and would be in the qualification round again. However, a minor miracle happened and they finished 1st in qualification! Their prize was a first round playoff series against would be champions HC Bolanzo who just applied to for Austiran Hockey and were accepted and won the league in their first season and in doing so were the first non Austrian team to win the EBEL. They defeated Red Bull Salzburg who are identified as the Austrian Champions of this season. 

 

Now here we are going to the 2014-2015 season, where I, the new GM will be taking over! I'm looking to get this team it's first ever playoff series win! I will Lukas Berger, from some of you who know me on the SHL that is my Austrian players name. Hope you enjoy! 

[evrydayimbyfuglien 600]

Will you be posting screen caps or videos of game play ever? I didn't follow your previous thread though I guess I could go look now.

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

8 hours ago, evrydayimbyfuglien said:

Will you be posting screen caps or videos of game play ever? I didn't follow your previous thread though I guess I could go look now.

well, doing screen caps outside of Football Manager is annoying so i mostly just do write ups

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

Instead of giving a full roster overview, I'll just give you a look at the best players because other than these players, the rest are around the same ability. 

 

Frank Banham is a 39 year old RWer from Canada. Despite his advanced age he still a pretty good. He is not as fast as he once was, but he is not slow by no means. He has a decent slapshot to boot. He has spent 7 of the past 11 seasons playing in Austria for various teams. He currently makes 56K and is out of contract at the end of the year, depending on how much he regresses or wants next year this might be his one and only season with us. 

 

Christian Engstrand is a 25 year old goaltender from Sweden. He is going to be entrenched in a goaltender battle this year with our other goalie and the loser will most liking leave as a free agent. He has good physical and technical attributes but his mental part of the game is a little lacking. He has spent the last 2 years as Linkoping's starting in the SHL. He makes 56.5K. 

 

Zoltan Hetenyi is a 26 year old goaltender who has been with the team his whole career, save for a cameo in 2012-2013 when he was in the ECHL. He isn't as good as Engstrand but his Mentals are amazing compared to Chris. He makes 52.5K but he doesn't count as one of the 8 foreigner spots we are allowed.

 

Johan Ejdepalm is a 32 year old defeseman from Sweden. He is a great skater who is pretty decent in his own zone to boot as well. After 3 seasons with Lulea he spent 2 in the DEL with Munich before joining our team. He is making 35K. 

 

Viktor Tokaji is a 37 year old defenseman from Hungary. Despite his advanced age he can still skate with the best of them. He also has some great mental attributes. He also has great positioning and is a great leader. He is making 48K which is a fair bit of change especially at his age.

 

Andrew Sarauer is a 29 year old LW from Canada. He is best known for his strength, aggression and work rate. He was last seen in the ECHL where he put up 62 points in 70 games. He currently makes 39K. 

 

Ladislav Skiorcin is a 28 year old C from Slovakia. He is our best C but he isn't lights out to be honest. He is a good skater and he has a good work rate but everything else could use some work. 

 

Overall we need some help at Center and maybe another defenseman. Finally let's get this ball rolling. 

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

Aug 17th

To upgrade at Center, I signed ex-NHLer Yannick Lehoux to a 1 year contact worth 45K. He is a very good skater and possesses a very good wrist shot. He is also better at faceoffs than our Slovakian center. 

 

Aug 18th

I also tried to sign Aaron Rome to bolster the defenseman but he signed with Salzburg so thats not good. We didn't get our man and a rival team got him. 

 

We sold 2758 season tickets so far. 

 

Aug 22nd

Engstrand has been named to Team Sweden for the European Hockey Tour. 

 

Aug 24th

 

Pre-Season Game #1: GKS Tychy @ Alba Volan FeVita

GKS Tychy are a Polish team who are the defending Cup champions and should provide us with a fairly decent game. They boast a USA goalie by the name of Jimmy Spratt (ECHL backup for most of his N.A career) and a French defender who is pretty decent.  

 

Frank Banham opened up the game with his 1st of the pre-season with assisting going to Andrew Sarauer and Johan Ejdepalm. In the 2nd period though, the Polish Cup Champs scored 2 goals within 3 minutes to make a 2-1 game. New signee, Yanick Lehoux evened the game with assists going to Daniel Koger and Jed Rusk. We scored our 1st PP goal of the year too with that coming from Yanick Lehoux and assists going to Johan Ejdepalm and Frank Banham. 3 minutes later Andrew Sarauer iced the game with a short handed goal from 19 year old Hungarian Peter Vincze. 

 

Christian Engstrand didn't have his best game stopping 22/24 but we will take it. Jimmp Spratt stopped 29/33. Yanick Lehoux, Frank Banham and Andrew Sarauer were 1st, 2nd and 3rd stars. 1,819 fans came out to watch us beat Tychy. 

 

Aug 25th

Season ticket sales are now 2,760 for the season. 

 

Aug 28th

 

Pre-Season Game #2: HK Bled @ Alba Volan FeVita

Next we get a visit from the Slovenian team HK Bled. They play in the Slovenian league and that's really all we know. 

 

The Slovenian team didn't really bother us as we won 6-3. Yanick Lehoux again was the 1st star as he scored 1 and assisted on 1. Johan Edjepalm had a monster game assisting on 3 and was the 2nd star. Ziga Kovacec was the 3rd star for Bled with 1 goal and 1 assist. Jed Rusk had 2 assists and Benjamin Nemes had 2 assists. 6 other player had points including Attilia Nemeth with 1 G and 1 A.

 

18 year old Daniel Kornakker got the start and stopped 18/21 while his counter part Luka Ruzicic Cervek stopped 24/29. 1,680 came out to watch us beat Slovenian side HK Bled. 

 

---END OF AUGUST---

 

[evrydayimbyfuglien 600]

Hey, my SHLer is from Austria, too.