Leading up to the start of 2019-20 season, we will preview every team in the PHL

JKH GKS Jastrzebie is the team that it would be great if every other PHL team could be them. They are the best at developing talent by far. This has created an amazing young core of talent that will have them being a contender for years to come if players stay.  Last year, after a strong start their season ended quickly at the hands of Cracovia Krakow. There is no doubt that they have the young talent and potential, but the production hasn’t been there. 40-year-old center Peter Fabus led the team in points last year. Fabus and Tomas Kominek were the only two players with more than 25 points last season and now both are gone. They found upgrades over both in my opinion, but if they’re going to win it all, they need their young talent to start producing offensively.

Forwards

Dominik Jarosz – Jesse Rohtla – Maciej Urbanowicz

Artem Iossafov – Radoslaw Sawicki  – Dominik Pas

Martin Kasperlík – Jan Soltys – Kamil Walega

Radoslaw Nalewajka – Kamil Wróbel – Patryk Pelaczyk

Other forwards: Lukasz Nalewajka, Patryk Matusik, Tomasz Kulas

The offense has a lot of young talent and they have done a better job of surrounding them with strong veterans then in years past. Jesse Rohtla is one of the biggest free-agent additions of the PHL offseason. The talented Finnish center spent the last two seasons with GKS Katowice ranking up 117 points during that time. That is the third-most points by a player in the PHL since the 2017-2018 season. He is the exact player that Jastrzebie needed. Rohtla was not the only major addition from GKS Katowice, as Maciej Urbanowicz joined the team as well. Urbanowicz returned to the team after four seasons away. The power forward is always good for around point per game production and someone younger players would really benefit from having on their wing. Now to the young talent that needs to start producing at high levels. Dominik Jarosz has been quite impressive in pre-season action scoring quite a few goals. The 20-year-old winger had only 15 points last year and did attract some national team attention. Dominik Pas is a great two-way player and strong forechecker. He has had 20 points in each of the past three seasons despite being only 19. Jan Soltys and Kamil Walega are one of the best duos in Polish hockey. The two have produced great numbers on the international stage and in the PHL. Both forwards will be leaders on Poland’s U20 team and should be leaders on Jastrzebie. If young talent produces at high levels this could be one of the most fierce offenses in the PHL.

Defensemen

Jakub Giminski – Henrich Jabornik

Kamil Gorny – Maris Jass 

Arkadiusz Kostek – Grzegorz Radzienciak

Jakub Michalowski – Kordian Chorazyczewski

This defense isn’t exciting but is still above average among PHL squads. Henrich Jabornik was the first new import to the PHL this year and is a pretty interesting player. Jabornik was a highly thought of player in his junior days, he appeared at the U18 IIHF championships and World Juniors for Slovakia. He has played in over 250 Tipsport Liga games, but has spent four years in the Erste Liga as well. There in Hungary, he has shown a lot more recording at least 10 goals and 17 assists in each season. Kamil Gorny is a really solid defensemen and maybe the best Polish defensemen on the roster. Gorny returns to JKH GKS Jastrzebie after a three-year stint with GKS Tychy. Maris Jass will be a fun player to watch this season. The veteran Latvian defensemen has played in 15 different hockey leagues and represented Latvia at plenty of international events. He is not afraid to play physical or rush up the ice. Jass plays an all-around solid game. Grzegorz Radzienciak is one of the best young defensemen in Poland. His defensive skills are ready for professional hockey, but the other end of his game has kinda flatlined since his final junior days. The defense is a lot of like of the offense featuring some strong young talent with the right amount of imports and veterans insulating them.

Goalies

Ondrej Raszka

David Marek

Oskar Prokop

In net JKH GKS Jastrzebie has a three-headed dragon of Czech goaltenders. Ondrej Raszka is the third best goalie in Poland behind Odrobny and Murray. It is a shame that he has yet to play a game for Poland at an IIHF event. He is the youngest of the three though so he has time. Raszka is vital to his team’s success and led the league in save percentage last year. A better team around him offensively should make his job easier. Now the back-up position is a bit odd to me. This offseason, Jastrzebie added young Czech goalie David Marek. Now Marek seemed to have an inconsistent career in the Czech junior leagues and lower Czech pro leagues. As a backup, I’m sure he will be fine. The thing that is odd to me is that the team also has Oskar Prokop. Prokop has a similar story to Raszka. A decent, but somewhat inconsistent career in the Czech Republic before coming over to Poland, and later representing team Poland. Prokop had a rough year last year, he only played 12 total games and was left off the roster for Poland at the U20 World Championships. I don’t know if he was injured or what was the reason for his lack of appearances. This year already Prokop has played two games in the first league, posting strong performances in each match. My guess is the goal is to allow him more playing time, while Marek can take the few times Raszka doesn’t play.

Prediction: 3rd

This team has an above-average offense and defense that is combined with one of the best goaltenders in Poland. Their team as it is should be a contender in the PHL, if young players are ready to start producing and contributing a lot more though this team could be in line for a championship run. That is betting on a lot of players taking big steps in their career.

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