Hungarian Player Inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame

Nine legends of the sport – including Hungary’s Viktor Szélig – have been inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Hall of Fame in Tampere, Finland, the site of this year’s World Ice Hockey Championship.

The Bibi Torriani Award – given to the representative of non-traditional hockey nations and the accompanying Hall of Fame membership –went this year to Viktor Szélig, who played international hockey for more than 20 years and lifted the Hungarian national team to the elite pool in 2009. Szélig, who played club hockey for hometown club Dunaújváros as well as Briancon in France, reflected on how times have changed in Hungarian hockey. He recalled his first national team practices, on outdoor rinks, where for every five minutes skating the team would spend 15 minutes shoveling snow off the surface, IIHF says on its website.

“In my first year on the national team, we played in pool C to avoid relegation,” he said. “In 2009, we played in Pool A. “That’s an incredible journey, we came really far together and we can put Hungary on the international hockey map,” he was quoted on the website.

“I hope that through me, maybe everybody who was part of that can feel something of this award. I’m just the captain, here to speak up for them,” he added.

Viktor Szélig is the fifth Hungarian to have been awarded a place in the IIHF Hall of Fame. Before him, it was György Pásztor (who passed away last August), László Schell, Gábor Ocskay Jr. (who passed away in 2009) and Zoltán Kovács who received this distinction.