By Avery Williamson
If your dream is to play college hockey, the United States is the place to do it. That’s why goalie Greg Orosz made the bold decision to leave his home country and move across the world at just 17 years old.
Greg’s journey starts a bit differently than most of his teammates’–in Gyor, Hungary. “Growing up in Hungary was obviously great,” he said. “That’s where I was born and raised. It’s where I started school and playing hockey.”
Each year around Christmas, town square transforms into an ice skating rink, becoming a hub at the heart of the city where community members gather to skate and socialize. When Greg was six years old, his father and grandfather took him to try it out.
“It was my first time ever skating, so I was obviously not great,” he said. “I just kept falling and falling. I sat down in the corner and was pretty annoyed. Then, when I stood up again, for some reason I was able to skate a lot better.
Though no one in his family had ever played hockey, Greg fell in love with the sport. For the next week, he kept returning to the rink. There, a local coach noticed him and asked if wanted to give hockey a try. “I wasn’t really playing any sports at the time, so I went and I tried,” he said.
“The first couple of weeks weren’t too fun. I would say I didn’t enjoy it. But after that, something just clicked and it became an obsession.”
That first year, Greg played as a skater, but during a Christmas game, he tried out the goalie position. Around that time, the Hockey World Championships were on and Greg was watching with his dad. “I really liked the Hungarian goalie,” he said,” and because of him, I wanted to try out being a goalie once.”
“Since the Christmas game was usually when players switched to goalie, I tried it out. I went in the net, really liked it, and never came out.”
From that moment, Greg’s goal was to compete at the highest level possible. In Europe, pro-teams are divided by age groups, and if you outperform players in your age group, coaches might call you up to play with older teams. “I was fortunate enough to be playing for the U20 team when I was 15,” said Greg.
After his sophomore year of high school, Greg decided to move to the United States to pursue his dream. “I wanted to play college hockey in the NCAA, so I made the move,” he said.
The dream was in motion.
First, he finished high school in Quebec, Canada. Then, he joined the NAHL, a tier II junior league, and played two seasons–one with the Aberdeen Wings and another with the Odessa Jackalopes.
When the chance to play in Alaska arose, Greg knew he had to take it. “I committed after the first month of playing my last season in the NAHL,” he said. “I thought Alaska was pretty cool and I had great talks with the coaches. I just thought it would be a great opportunity for me to play and learn at this level.”
Now in his second season with the Seawolves, Greg has found monumental success, recording a 0.881 save percentage so far this season. On January 4, he notched a career-high of 34 saves against Western Michigan.
He credits part of this success to his pre-game routine. “I always drink my coffee right when I get to the rink,” he said. “I always try to get dressed in the same order and listen to the same music.”
Once on the ice, Greg continues his same routine. “When I skate out to the ice for warm-ups, I have certain things I do, like where I skate out or which foot touches the ice first.”
Though living in Alaska is thousands of miles away from Hungary, Greg finds some similarities, such as the climate and the weather. “The biggest difference is probably the culture,” he said.
“People don’t really do small talk back home, and it’s obviously a big thing here. I like it now, but it was kind of weird at first. Going to a coffee shop and people asking how your day’s going was new to me.”
If you can handle the small talk, though, Greg encourages every European interested in college hockey to make the move to the United States. “If anyone from back home is trying to come over, I would just encourage it, he said.”
“It’s a great opportunity to study at a high level and get a degree while also playing sports with 30 of your best friends.”
UP NEXT
Fans can watch Greg in action on January 31 as the Seawolves take on in-state rivals Alaska Fairbanks in Fairbanks. Anchorage fans are encouraged to join the official watch party at Las Margaritas, located at 541 W. Dimond Blvd.