2023 is officially over. Quite a few THL squads had plenty to celebrate last year while ending the year on a high note. The bottom of the standings will be hoping that a new year means a new team though. The top of the league is now starting to distance themselves, while the middle of the pack has become even closer. The holiday season, some international events, and the Polish Cup meant there were only a few THL gamedays this past month.

THL Standings

Team	GP	W	L	OTW	OTL	PTS	Goal Differential
GKS Katowice	25	18	3	4	0	61	+40
GKS Tychy	25	14	6	4	1	51	+22
Unia Oswiecim	24	16	7	0	1	49	+36
JKH GKS Jastrzebie	25	11	11	1	2	37	+0
Podhale Nowy Targ	25	10	10	0	5	35	-3
KH Torun	25	10	12	1	2	34	-3
Cracovia Krakow	25	7	10	5	3	34	-12
Zaglebie Sosnowiec	25	8	15	1	1	27	-15
STS Sanok	25	2	22	0	1	7	-65

THL Power Rankings

1. GKS Katowice (Nov Rank – 1): Katowice played five games this month, and things were a bit closer than normal. They started with a blowout win over Sanok (6-1) but then got blown out themselves by Torun (7-2). The rest of the month saw wins over Jastrzebie (4-1), Sosnowiec (2-1), and Podhale (5-4 OT). They finished the year on a sad note, losing in the semi-finals of the Polish Cup to Jastrzebie (2-1 OT).
2. Unia Oswiecim (Nov Rank – 2): Oswiecim keeps their number two spot after staying perfect in December with four wins. They have some of the best depth in the THL, but during the Polish Cup, they fell apart, losing 6-3 to Tychy. The Polish Cup doesn’t affect our THL rankings, but Oswiecim will need to clean up its game a bit to finish the year if they really want to contend for a championship.
3. GKS Tychy (Nov Rank – 3): The Tychy offense came alive this month as the team posted three wins and one loss in December. They scored 14 goals in their four matches, which is above their usual average. They also allowed 11 goals, which is one of their worst stretches of the year. While not THL, the team claimed their second trophy of the year with the Polish Cup. Tychy defeated Oswiecim 6-3 in the semi-final before downing Jastrzebie 3-2 in overtime.
4. Podhale Nowy Targ (Nov Rank – 4): The ultimate wildcard continues as you never know what Podhale will give you. This month, they finished with a nice 2-1-0-1 record. It included huge wins over Tychy (6-3) and Torun (5-2), along with a close overtime defeat to Katowice (5-4). Their loss was them getting shutout on 26 shots to Sosnowiec. The goaltending situation still scares me, but when the offense averages just under four goals a game, it is hard to ignore them.
5. JKH GKS Jastrzebie (Nov Rank – 6): Jastrzebie had a wild month. They kicked it off with a close one-goal loss to Tychy and ended the month with a heartbreaking one-goal loss to Tychy in the Polish Cup final. Jastrzebie opened the month with three losses in Tychy, Katowice, and Cracovia. They finished their THL schedule for the year with a crazy 10-5 win over Sanok that saw two players grab seven points a piece. Success in the Polish Cup shouldn’t go unnoticed, as they beat Katowice and took Tychy to overtime. But that losing streak hurt their chance to make up ground on the top three in the standings.
6. KH Torun (Nov Rank – 5): There are some things for Torun to celebrate and others to forget from December. They had a massive win over Katowice (7-2). Blowing out the best team in Poland is a shocking upset and reminds me of how good early season Torun was. Outside that win, they lost to Podhale (5-2), Tychy (3-0), and Oswiecim (3-2). Torun continues to show potential but not consistency.
7. Cracovia Krakow (Nov Rank – 8): It was a month of blowouts for Cracovia. They got beat down by Osiweicm (9-2), but they returned the scoring with a 7-1 win over Sanok. The key game was a 5-1 win over Jastrzebie. When Cracovia is in sync they’re a good squad, but they have rarely often been in sync this year.
8. Zaglebie Sosnowiec (Nov Rank – 7): I think Sosnowiec is a solid team, and they stay in every game. Eventually, staying in games isn’t enough, and they need to find wins as the point gaps widen. A three-loss December doesn’t help, as they lost to Katowice (2-1), Tychy (6-4), and Oswiecim (3-1). They did kick off the month shutting out the Podhale offense in one to nothing win.
9. STS Sanok (Nov Rank – 9): I hope 2024 is better for you Sanok. Another 0-5 month, but at least kept Oswiecim to being a one-goal loss at a 4-3 final.

THL Players of the Month

December MVP – Alan Łyszczarczyk (GKS Tychy). Łyszczarczyk has been the savior of the Tychy offense all year, and he is finally our MVP for the month. Scoring in all five THL games, he posted four goals and seven assists. His big month has him tied for the league lead in points. Not to mention, he helped set up the Polish Cup-winning goal.

Forward – Patryk Wronka (Podhale Nowy Targ). Wronka continues to be the engine for the Podhale offense. He was a goal-scoring machine, with seven goals in just four games during the month. He also added three assists to keep pace with Łyszczarczyk for the regular season scoring title.

Defenseman – Kalle Valtola (Unia Oswiecim). Valtola continues to be one of the best offensive defensemen in Poland. He recorded a point during each of his games in December while manning the second pairing for Oswiecim. In total, he recorded five points (1G-4A-5PTS) during the month. The Finnish defender also scored once in the Polish Puck semi-final versus Tychy.

Goalie – Linus Lundin (Unia Oswiecim). Lundin had a great month in the THL. His lowest save percentage for a game was .919 in his four matches. He made 30, 37, 27, and 35 saves in his four games. In some close matchups, Lundin was the difference maker.

U23 Player – Mateusz Bezwinski (Cracovia Krakow). Bezwinski has locked down the third-line center role for Cracovia and continues to be the top-scoring U23 player in the THL. He added to his total with a point-per-game average in December with three points (1G-2A-3PTS) in three games.

December’s Top Stories

Dec 5. With a rough season in Sanok, there were bound to be more changes coming. A big one came as Sami Tamminen departed the club. Tamminen had served as captain since the beginning of the 2022-23 season. He was in his third year with the club and had posted 70 points in 106 THL games. The club also said goodbye to Finnish forward Saku Kivinen and Slovakian defenseman Jakub Burzik.

Dec 17. Professor Janusz Filipiak passed away on December 17th. He was the founder of the Information Technology company Comarch. Filipiak was also an academic and sports activist. In 2004, he took over MKS Cracovia, Poland’s oldest active sports club. Under his guidance, the hockey team won seven PHL championships, three Polish Cups, three Polish Super Cups, and one Continental Cup. Our thoughts are with his friends and family.

Krzysztof Woźniak has been promoted to vice president of MKS Cracovia and will oversee the hockey club’s activities.

Dec 22. In a wild game, we saw two clubs go out with a bang for 2023. Jastrzebie versus Sanok ended with a 10-5 final. This included two players on Jastrzebie getting seven-point games. Jakub Izacky led the way with three goals and four assists, while Ratislav Spirko assisted on six goals while scoring once. Their linemate, Dominik Jarosz, had a four-point night with one goal and three assists. On the Sanok side, the recently unretired Marek Strzyżowski scored twice.

Dec 29. Cracovia didn’t want to end the year without making a big move. The club added veteran defenseman Janne Jalasvaara. The Finnish defender has an impressive resume as a two-time KHL Champion. He played ten years in the Liiga, seven seasons in the KHL, and two years in the SHL. He represented Finland at the 2013 World Championships. He most recently played the last two years with Grenoble in the top level of French hockey. With all his experience and serving leadership roles on previous teams, including as captain of Kunlun in the KHL, he should be a great veteran presence for the young Craocvia players.

Dec 30. GKS Tychy has won the 2023 Polish Cup! Tychy has now won the Polish Super Cup and the Polish Cup for the year. The new trophy comes after they defeated Jastrzebie 3-2 in overtime. Filip Komorski got the cup-winning goal on the powerplay. Tychy had advanced to the finals after beating Oswiecim 6-3 thanks to a Viktar Turkin hattrick. Jastrzebie earned their spot in the finals by beating Katowice in a close 2-1 game that came down to the shootout. This is the tenth Polish Cup in club history. Now can they complete a trophy sweep in 2024 with a THL championship?

2/3 https://t.co/8KtFKiUCAT

— Alan Lyszczarczyk (@allann_11) December 31, 2023

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