I have had players tell me before that some foreign clubs don’t sign Polish players due to the poor reputation of Polish hockey. One team that is certainly not scared to take a chance on Polish talent is HC Ocelari Trinec. The club of Aron Chmielewski has added a pair of players from GKS Tychy in Bartosz Ciura and Filip Komorski per Hokej.net. Both players have signed one-year deals that will have them splitting time between HC Ocelari Trinec and HC Frydek-Mistek.
Bartosz Ciura is a stay-at-home defenseman with some physical chops. The 28-year-old captained team Poland at the three seas tournament, where he recorded three assists in three games. The three-time Polish champion with GKS Tychy recorded one goal and four assists this year in 46 games. He has played for Tychy since 2016.
Filip Komorski also joined the squad and is one of the most underrated Polish forwards, in my opinion. The sniper from Warszawa is one of the best goal scorers for the Polish national team, recording two goals at the three seas tournament. Since 2013, when Komorski debuted in the PHL, he is eighth in goals with 153. This included 20 goals and 20 assists in 45 games this year with GKS Tychy.
Both players are more than likely to start the year with HC Frydek-Mistek. HC Ocelari Trinec is one of the best clubs in the Czech Republic, winning the Tipsport Extraliga championship in 2021. They are technically back-to-back champs since no champion was awarded in 2020. HC Frydek-Mistek finished 14th in the Czech second league this past season. This is their fourth straight season where the club missed the playoffs. Bartosz Ciura and Filip Komorski are the third and fourth Polish players to sign abroad this year. Previously, Filip Stopinski signed with IceFighters Leipzig, and Michael Luba re-upped with Cholet.
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