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Hungry Hungarian Omar joins Phoenix

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Hungarian International defenceman Omar Ennaffati has completed the Manchester Phoenix defensive corps by inking a contract for season 2007/08.

Phoenix player coach Tony Hand noted, "Omar is a big strong defenceman, who likes to link up with the forwards. He's very useful playing the point position on the powerplay and having played in Europe before, he's used to the bigger ice surface this side of the Atlantic. When I spoke with him, he struck me as an intelligent young man, hungry to succeed for both club and country."
 
Originally from Toronto, Canada, 27-year old Omar Ennaffati stands 6ft 1ins and tips the scales at 218lbs, and has enjoyed an interesting career path on his way to Manchester. For years of junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League led to him turning professional with the New Orleans Brass before he returned to school at St.Francis Xavier University. While studying for his degree in Finance, Omar played four seasons in the Canadian Interuniversity Sports league and was named as a 1st team All-Canadian in 2004-05.

"After graduating from college," he commented, "I set my target on playing for the Hungarian national team. I have an EU passport as my Mum is originally from Hungary and to qualify for the national team, I had to be resident and play there for two years. I made it to the team and played six games, but just before the World Championships I got injured, so to represent Hungary in the Worlds remains my dream."

Asked about his style of play and what he'll bring to the Phoenix he added, "I like to think I'm a responsible type of player, I try not to take dumb penalties and I like to join the rush when I can and contribute offensively. Hungary was a skilled league, tactically different and they didn't overly encourage defencemen to be too offensive, so I'm itching to get back to a more North American style of play that suits my game. I'm looking forward to coming to Manchester, talking to coach Hand gave me a good feeling about the place and Brian Passmore is a good friend of mine on the team."

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