Photo Source: Polski Hokej
The busiest month of national team action is coming up! In advance of the event, Poland released its first men’s U18 roster for the year. A lot could change in this roster as the team will have a long month playing exhibition matches in Latvia and Slovakia before their IIHF tournament. Poland will play in the Division 2 Group A World Championship from April 17th to April 23rd. Croatia, Great Britain, Netherlands, Romania, and Serbia will be their opponents. Last year, despite an upset win versus Austria, Poland finished in sixth place and was relegated from Division 1. This group has some promising players looking to earn a promotion back into the first division.
Forwards
Rostered
| Adam Sawicki | Jakub Skrzypski | Matthew McGovern | Oskar Laszkiewicz |
| Adrian Ziober | Marcel Karnas | Mikolaj Osiadly | Rafał Drabik |
| Bartłomiej Stolarski | Mateusz Majkowski | Olaf Zachariasz | Sebastian Wojciechowski |
| Szymon Guminski | Timofei Petrazhitsky | Wiktor Makula | Wiktor Zajac |
| Wojciech Wilczok |
Reserve List
| Dawid Lojas | Krzysztof Stabryla | Pawel Slomian |
| Jacek Juchniewicz | Maciej Poreba | |
| Jakub Janik | Nikodem Wroblewski |
I am excited about this forward group. There is a lot of talent and depth! Olaf Zachariasz is the big name to watch. The 16-year-old plays for HC Vítkovice U17 in the top Czechia U17 league. Mateusz Majkowski plays for HC Ploruba in the same league, while Matthew McGovern has carved out a solid resume in Austria. From inside Poland, I am a big fan of Rafal Drabik. I think he has a lot of great traits to be a top player now and at the senior level. I also have high expectations for Bartlomiej Stolarski, Marcel Karnas, and Sebastian Wojciechowski. I don’t believe this group has a generational-scoring player who can lead them single-handedly, but there is a lot of depth to this squad. They should roll four lines, which can produce and not be overpowered defensively. I am surprised to see veteran junior players Dawid Lojas and Krzysztof Stabryla only in the reserves.
Defensemen
Rostered
| Filip Wojciechowski | Kacper Prokopiak | Patryk Hanzel |
| Ihnat Kashalevich | Kamil Metel | Wiktor Bieda |
| Kacper Niemczyk | Jakub Onak |
Reserve List
None
This group lost star power when Patryk Zubek left the Polish national team to pursue international opportunities in Slovakia. I am also confused by Poland’s lack of interest in Hubert Szarzynski, who has played at the top levels of junior hockey in Sweden. Still, this group might be light but has some impact players. Jakub Onak is one of the best defensive prospects to come out of Poland in a while, with strong poise. Kacper Prokopiak is going to catch the eye; the 6’5 defender has also played forward and showed off strong skating and puck skills. Assistant captain Patryk Hanzel will also return after a good performance at last year’s U18s. This group should look fine in Division Two, but I am unsure how they would fare if Poland was still up a division.
Goalies
Rostered
| Jan Kusak | Igor Tyczyński |
| Jakub Wieczorek | Tobiasz Jaworski |
Reserve List
| Kacper Michalski | Juliusz Ceglinski |
While there are a lot of names here, there is a clear starter for Poland. Igor Tyczyński is the best goalie prospect Poland has held in a while. He was split starting for Poland at the U20 World Championship and did great as last year’s starter for the U18 squad. He is already locked in to start again. There is a lot of talent in this group. I suspect Jakub Wieczorek will be the backup. Wieczorek has had a good year in the Swiss system, getting some senior chances at the lower levels. Like the forward group, the goalies have a lot of depth. It’s a very promising position for Poland.
Can they win gold?
Given the forward depth and starting goalie, I think this group should be the favorites for gold. Knock on wood, but likely, the only competition that will come close to them is Great Britain. That will be your match that will likely decide the tournament, and it kicks off the event as well. Croatia should also be a challenge. They took silver last year, and they had a great offense, but they will lose most of the five top scorers. It won’t be easy, as some will assume from the names of the country, but Poland should pull away. This will be a major test for head coach Andrei Gusov in his second year leading the squad. Poland needs to win and show that development has happened during his leadership.
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