Photo: IIHF

It has felt like for the past couple of tournaments that the women’s U18 squad was just on the cusp of gold and promotion but not good enough. Poland once again had a chance to capture it all this January. As is the nature of junior tournaments, your best players age out. A lot of key veterans had departed, and Poland had the second-youngest roster at the tournament. Could some veterans, in their last chance, work with the young players to finally earn a gold medal?

You can split this tournament into two groups in my opinion. The heavy favorites in Norway, Poland, and Spain, and the no chance with Australia, Chinese Taipei, and South Korea. Poland would open up against South Korea and Chinese Taipei. They would win two straight as well, with a 4-2 win over Korea and a 9-1 win over Chinese Taipei. These multi-goal wins were actually kind of disappointing as host Spain and Norway both won their first contest 15-0. In game three, Poland took on host Spain. Poland beat Spain last year with a 4-0 win, but the Spanish got their revenge with a 5-1 win. This loss essentially ended Poland’s hope for gold. The red and white did rebound with a 5-0 shutout of Australia, which gave them a slim chance of gold on the final day versus Norway. Against the group favorite, Poland held their own at times despite, on average, being a year younger. In the end, they would lose 4-2. Poland finished the tournament with a bronze medal, a step back from their back-to-back silver medals.

Legit Łąpieś

Magdalena Łąpieś was the engine for Poland at this tournament. A class above most of the rest of the tournament. She finished with six goals on 41 shots, along with adding four assists. Her ten points finished among the top five in scoring. It seems teams, especially in the Spain game, put their entire game plan into trying to shut her down. It was a fantastic tournament by the forward who plays her club year in Canada. I am excited to see her play with the senior team later this year.

Stępień Steps Up

With Poland losing so many veteran forwards from their last run, they needed a young player to step up offensively. Stępień filled that role well and tied Łąpieś for the team lead in goals with six. She finished with eight points (6G-2A-8PPTS), which was good for second on team Poland. The Poznan recorded a hat trick in the game against Australia. As a returning player for next year, she will be relied on heavily in the next tournament. Like Łąpieś. Stępień is playing her club year in Canada. Another year playing across the pond should be huge for her development.

The New Blood

Poland had five players making their debut at this event, with four of them doing it at just 14 years old. Karolina Gawandtka was the standout of the group. She displayed some strong skating and offensive ability, finishing with two goals. She had good awareness on the ice; a play that really stood out to me was on a two on two versus Norway. Gawandtka realized the situation and spacing and made a perfect pick to play to remove both defenders while Łąpieś drove toward the net. Malinowska and Wańczuk had some strong moments in their debuts, while Hudziak had some good saves in her lone appearance in relief against Spain.

Once Again, Just Almost There

Despite losing to Norway and Spain, it was another tournament where Poland felt like they were just a step away from winning it all. Poland had some missed scoring chances against each team while taking too many penalties at times. While the penalty kill did a good job, it always was a good momentum killer. Poland finished with a shot differential of +85 while only being outshot in one game vs. Spain. A subpar performance versus Spain is the only reason Poland didn’t capture a third straight silver medal. Maybe with another year of experience and one big addition, Poland will be there next year.

What’s Next?

The good news for Poland is with being a young team not a lot of players are leaving. In fact Poland is only losing five players from this roster. The problem is those players are major contributors. On offense, they will lose top scorers Magdalena Łąpieś and Lena Zięba. On defense, they are losing three of their top defenders: Edyta Cybula, Nikola Wencel, and Patrycja Wójcik. The big addition will be hockey prodigy Malgorzata Zakrzewska, a 14-year-old forward who is already among the best for Poland in the TLHK and the EWHL.

Quick Thoughts

• Lena Zięba had a strong tournament, scoring five goals and assisting on one. She should be close to making the senior squad soon.
• Patrycja Wójcik continues to develop well. She is especially strong in her own zone. It will be hard for the senior national team to keep her off the roster going forward.
• Three straight medals for Poland U18 now at the D1B level. Before the streak, Poland had only ever won a single medal at the level. The future is strong for women’s hockey in Poland.
• Milena Piasecka had a really great tournament in both zones. The assistant captain recorded a goal and three assists. She will be Poland’s top defender at next year’s tournament.

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