The women’s senior squad has come up big in one of their last major tests of the year. The squad traveled to Esbjerg, Denmark, for a tournament versus Denmark, Great Britain, and Italy. Poland will see Great Britain and Italy later this year at the IIHF Division 1 Group B World Championship, while Denmark plays in the Elite Division. The tournament was a great chance to evaluate Poland going into their IIHF event, as well as seeing them against a top-division team. This was going to be an interesting tournament, no matter what. It was the coaching debut of new national team head coach Joe Butkevich. Poland also had star defenseman Julia Zielinska making her return to the national team.

In game one, Poland got the host and tournament favorite Denmark. This was the toughest match, and it was a barn burner. The red and white would find themselves down two after the first period, but they made the comeback scoring three goals in the second. After the final period, the score was 6-4 in favor of Denmark. It was a strong effort for Poland, but going one for five on the powerplay likely doomed them. A loss may not be the way you want to start the tournament, but it was a great offensive effort against such a high-ranked country. Pozniewska scored twice for Poland, while Onyshchenko and Sikorska each added one.

The second match was against a very familiar foe in Great Britain. This game was one where a young star took over as Sikorska recorded a hattrick with Poland’s first three scores. Great Britain would get one goal late in the first, but that is all they would get. Poland coasted to a 5-1 victory, another great offensive effort. Tomczok and Gogoc would both add insurance goals for Poland, as the women’s team proved they’re one of the favorites in Group B.

Coming into the final day, gold was on the line. Despite the loss to start the tournament for Poland. There were plenty of scenarios for Poland to get a chance at gold. They would have to take on rival Italy, who came into the game undefeated. Poland blew out Italy with a 6-1 final in one of the best national team performances of the past few years. The scoring was spread out as well, with six different players finding the back of the net. Pozniewska got the scoring started just three minutes into the game. Kot and Chrapek would follow up with first-period goals of their own. Sikorska would add another goal in the second, her fifth of the tournament, to lead the event. Onyshchenko and Patla finished off the blowout adding goals in the third.

With the big win over Italy on the final day, the event ended in a three-way tie. Poland had the best goal differential in the tournament which earned them a first place finish! That is the big story of the tournament. Poland’s offense scored 15 goals in just three games; averaging five goals a game against such great competition is a tremendous sign. This is also despite a powerplay that finished two for eleven at the event. Denmark was able to score six on the red and white, but Poland only allowed two goals the rest of the way. Hopefully, this high-power offense is a sign of things to come for Joe Butkevich and his squad. They’ll travel to Latvia for the Division 1 Group B World Championship and play Great Britain, Italy, Latvia, Slovakia, and Slovenia from March 31st to April 6th.

If you want to keep up with all the Polish hockey action, make sure to follow us on Twitter @PolandHockey, like our Facebook page, and add us on Instagram @PolishPuck_. Also, support us on Patreon to help keep the content flowing!