In recent months there have been a lot of rumors concerning Polish teams playing in different countries and different countries playing in Poland’s league. When these get brought up, the KHL is also brought up. I hate to say it, but Poland is not getting a KHL club.

Poland had a chance at a KHL club in 2013. Olivia Gdańsk applied for expansion with, Latvian football director, Antanas Sakavickas leading the team(EuroHockey.com). The club would also have a VHL team and a youth hockey league team. The youth team would be Poland’s best young players and compete in the Russian youth hockey league. The team would play its game at multiple arenas around Poland. The club looked promising, but things took a downturn and the club was rejected for financial reasons.

Now to the current day of the KHL.The deadline to apply for a franchise was April 1st, and as expected, no polish clubs applied. That is just for the 2016-17 season though, but what about the future. The KHL currently has 28 teams with an expansion coming that will have a team in China and possibly Estonia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Sweden seems unlikely as the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation is saying no to any club trying. Estonia and United Kingdom probably have a pretty good chance and China is a lock. That puts the KHL at 31 teams, how many more teams will the KHL accept?  Past 2016-17, there is the possibly KHL expands to Norway, Italy, more teams in Russia and China, and a chance that Ukrainian club, Donbass Donetsk, could return. From the KHL side, it looks very slim that a Polish club still could join.

Today a KHL team in Poland is something that’s still desired and would be very beneficial. The youth part would be the best part as having players develop in one of the best youth hockey systems in the world would ensure a very bright future for Poland. Also, the added bonus of Wolski potentially representing Poland after playing two years with Poland’s KHL club, just a wish though.. We could sit and dream, but it’s not going to happen. Time to forget about the KHL and focus on Poland’s top league and the champions hockey league.