If you’re looking for a reason for why Poland might get promoted at this year’s World Championships than the EIHC wasn’t it.
Throwaway the Defense
It was like a hot knife through butter. Against opponents missing some their top players the Polish defense was ineffective. Forwards were just walking right through the Polish defenders. Breakouts were not existent. It wasn’t just the defensemen, the forwards seemed lost in their own zone too. If you want to win at the World Championships this will need to be fixed.
The Goalies are Alright
Behind a defense that left them out to dry all 3 goalies gave great performances. Murray demonstrated some great ability to move the puck. It really made Poland a more efficient team. Overall Ted Nolan will have a hard choice of who to start at the World Championships. If I had to rank them.
- Murray
- Odrobny
- Radziszewski
- Raszka
Powerplay Problems
The power play struggled. So many chances on the powerplay and only a couple of goals to show for it. You would hope the powerplay gets better when some key Polish forwards return for the Worlds, but with players like Wronka, Malasinski, and Kapica in the line up it should have performed better. The power play struggled to set up plays up eventually settling for a low percentage shot.
Is Cichy Working Out?
I was a huge fan of Cichy joining the national team as an import. Cichy has dominated the PHL and is one of the best players in the league. The offensive center only has 4 points in 15 international games and some really poor defensive play at times. I still want to see him at the Worlds, but I’m starting question if he can provide the impact imports have for other countries
Warmed Up for the Worlds
This tournament was a warm-up for the World Championships. They were missing some players and trying out some others. Kapica also mentioned the team was still learning Ted Nolan’s style. There is no reason to panic at the result of this tournament, but it did help expose some holes in the current roster. More experience in Ted Nolan’s system will also be key for the World Championships.
Small Thoughts
-Wronka is amazing and I’m so happy he plays for Poland
– Kapica is going to be a key player for Poland at the World Championships. The 25-year-old keeps getting better and he had an amazing EIHC.
-At 36 years old, Zapala is winning his battle against time. He played great defensively, especially against Hungary, where he probably saved a couple of goals.
-Ciura had a really tough tournament. On a bad defense, he was one of the worst if not the worst. On this play, he lets the Kazaksthan forward screen the goalie and then the forward still has enough time to bang in the rebound. He needs to pressure that guy
Polish Puck 