The Revival of the Romanian National team and the Usual Winners of the LNH

Last season was a low point for Romanian ice hockey; the national team suffered major defeat in the World Championships and failed to qualify, and the domestic league was a sad story of delayed games and accusations of cheating directed at both Steaua and the referees. This year’s been no walk in the park either, and has had its own share of scandals, but the season ended with triumph for the National team as they sailed home in style with the World Championships Division 2 title in front of their home crowd in Bucharest.

The Romanian Cup and LNH 2000-2001

The first "big" event on the Romanian ice hockey calendar this season was the Romanian Cup in September. The teams were divided into two groups - one in Gheorgheni and the other in Bucharest. Before the tournament even began HC Sfantu Gheorghe announced its withdrawal, and everyone believed that HCSG were finished as a team. However, with a lot of effort, Dumitru Iordan (Sfantu Gheorghe’s "Mr. Hockey") managed to save the day. Although HCSG were saved, another team had to pull out – Sportul Studentesc. The students’ lack of money meant that they wouldn’t be able play in the Cup. With some considerable effort Steaua won their group in Bucharest, Rapid having proved a dangerous adversary. In the homogeneous "Transylvanian" group in Gheorgheni, SCMC had the same trouble with home team Progym. But, both favourites qualified for the grand finale in Bucharest which Steaua (defending their 1999 title, won in Miercurea Ciuc) went on to win, with surprising ease, 6-0.
    The same seven teams as last season participated in this season’s Connex-sponsored Liga Nationala de Hochei pe Gheata. Would Rapid be the team to watch? As it turned out, they weren’t. Sadly they were already on the brink of financial catastrophe when the season started and, after going down 3-43 (!!) in Miercurea Ciuc on Nov. 5th, the bubble finally burst. With players not receiving salaries and a turbulent quarrel with the Referee Guild, Rapid refused to play ice hockey that November day, and the the result was a travesty. In the end Rapid concluded the league with a mostly junior team, plus Levente Elekes, the brilliant goalthief whom they had bought last season from SCMC. Luckily for him, Elekes was allowed to return to the SCMC in time for the playoffs.
    Last season the preliminaries were boring, with little or no tension or excitement. This year, with the introduction of the semi-finals, the race for the playoffs had that bit of extra spice. During the last rounds Rapid, Sportul and Dunarea fought for the fourth and last place in the "playoff-shuttle" (SCMC and Steaua had already secured their places, and in that order). SCMC made it to the last round without conceding a single point, at which point they faced their arch-rivals Steaua in Bucharest. Progym journeyed into no-mans-land, despite a new sponsor (Apicom Ltd.), and finished third. This meant they met Steaua in the semifinals. So, who came out on top in the "3 Emperor battle"? Answer: Sportul who had to get two points from their last double, and which was, interestingly enough, decided on the Patinoar de Galati, Dunarea's home ice. Sportul made it through and were paired with SCMC in the other semi.
    Only the most die-hard of Sportul fans could have hoped for a win against the reigning champions SCMC, and indeed SCMC won the best-of-three series 2-0 (9-2 and 13-0). Steaua and Progym was a much more open-ended story, and both teams won their respective home games. Steaua had the advantage of home ice because of their superior position in the league. In front of 3000 spectators, Steaua and Progym offered one of the best games this season. Steaua won with 3-2 turning the game in the last period. Progym had to settle for the bronze with Sportul (3-1). As usual the final pairing was old "friends" Steaua and SCMC and after only 3 games Steaua regained the title. SCMC were a disappointment and, even according to their own management, lost to the better team having suffered from a bad bout of self- confidence when the going got tough. And so Steaua secured the "double".

International adventures

With two fixtures out of a possible four, Romania had a different season internationally. The Juniors had the opportunity but failed to produce in the end as Romania's "bogey-team", the Netherlands, brought them down. There was Bronze for the U-20's in Belgrade (YUG), after losing to the Netherlands in the group-final (but beating Yugoslavia) for Bronze, and there was Silver for the U-18's in Sofia (BUL), after a narrow 3-4 loss against the Netherlands. But these results were not as impressive as they sound, since in both cases the Championships played were in the „basement" divisions.
    For the first time ever, Romania formed a womens team who were subsequently given the privilege of arranging their Championship at home. The outcome was the Ladies qualification for Div 1, although Romania were taught some lessons by some of the the more experienced opponents. The Netherlands (surprise!) proved to be the strongest team and won the tournament ahead of Italy.
    The last event of the season was the Seniors attempts to reverse the fortunes of the team and restore some glory to their tarnished reputation. And, on home ice in the Mihai Flamaropol ice stadium, Romanian ice hockey at last had something to celebrate; a clear and steady campaign ending with 5 straight victories and 46-4 (goals), as well as promotion to next year’s Div 1; the rightful home of the ice warriors from Romania. Hopefully appropriate efforts will be made to ensure they stay there for longer than one year.

Other

For the first time (to my knowledge), a Championship was arranged for women. Triumf from Bucuresti won ahead of SCMC and Progym. So far these are the only ones, but maybe there will be more teams in the future. On the junior scene, Dinamo appeared. With former player Iustinian as coach, the Dinamo team of U-15 kids played a tournament in Sweden and came a very impressive second place. It is not yet known if there will be a senior Dinamo team in the LNH. During the season rumours not only abound about Dinamo's comeback, but also about the construction of yet another ice rink in Bucharest, and a program to expand ice hockey to Cluj, Tirgu Mures, Radauti, Suceava and maybe other cities in the future. Connex, as the main sponsor, has a genuine interest in the game and would like to see a bigger market.

Stefan Kreuger