Poland’s women hockey team is still taking those first steps sometimes, despite that there have been some players that have reached heights so quickly it is astounding. Their male counterparts seem to be stuck in quicksand, but the women’s division keeps pushing forward no matter the roadblock. The amount of talent, especially young talent, in the system right now is amazing. There is Kamila Wieczorek playing in Sweden, Julia Zienlka, Martyna Sass, and Zuzanna Baran in Slovakia, and a strong core of players in Poland. The biggest name and the next to add her name to the list of Polish hockey legends is Wiktoria Sikorska.

Sikorska is maybe just a year away from being able to take the title of the best Polish women’s player. This season, she showed the world was in her hands. At 15-years-old she dominated in the top women’s Czech league this season. She finished her regular season with 16 points (11 G, 5A) in 13 games., tied for the 11th most in the league. It was the 3rd most by any player under 18, with the top 2 having at least 4 more games.

Sikorska also was the leader on a Polish U18 squad that went up against opponents way out of Poland’s league in the Visegrad Four Tournament. Then she came back to try and take Poland’s U18 team to a new height by putting them on her back at the U18s. It was her second-time representing Poland’s U18 squad at IIHF competition, her first as captain. She lead Poland with 7 goals and 3 assist in 5 games, being a scoring machine for Poland. Her performance earned her the honor of being named the Best forward at the tournament and best player for Poland. In her first go at the U18s, she had 5 points (3G, 2A) in 5 games. Sikorska will have a chance to represent Poland two more times at the U18s. She will easily crush Kamila Wieczorek’s U18 scoring record. She will only need 10 points to set a new record in at the 2019-2020 U18s, something I imagine she will surpass easily. She finished her year with the national team by making her senior IIHF debut at the Division 1B World Championships. She scored her first IIHF goal against China.

Sikorska is an extremely strong skater and always able to stand out when compared to her competition. She has a lot of great offensive instinct and ability to finish. She is great at controlling the puck and with that lethal speed its a nightmare for opposing defenses. In an interview she did with hokej.net before the World Championship, she indicated that she wanted to keep improving and try her hand at a stronger league. Her plan seemed to be moving over to Sweden first than trying her craft in North America. There is no doubt that she would be successful regardless of where she goes. With Sikorska and Poland’s strong core leading the way, I have no doubt that within the next few years Poland will be promoted to Division 1 Group A.

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