Photo Source: polskihokej.eu

The road to the World Championship has started for Poland, and they showed they’re more than ready! The national team played in two exhibition matches this weekend against Hungary. Poland would win both with a combined score of 11-4. This was a tough Hungary team that was only missing a few players from the 2023 World Championship roster. At the 2023 event, Hungary defeated France and picked up an overtime loss against Austria for three points. Despite getting three points, Hungary was relegated due to that overtime loss vs. Austria. It shows Poland must earn points in multiple games to stay at the top.

Poland was without a full roster for these games as the THL finals continued between GKS Katowice and Unia Oswiecim. This was a good chance for Poland to try out many different players who were not on the national team at last year’s Worlds or the Olympic Qualifiers this past February.

Poland wasted no time in either game. The red and white got off to a two-goal lead in the first of game one, thanks to Aron Chmielewski and Marcin Kolusz. The second period would be quiet. Poland would break out in the third thanks to three goals, two from Dominik Pas. Hungary did answer with two goals of their own but never pulled within more than a two goal deficit. Poland outshot their long-time rival 38-21 in the 5-2 final. This was the exact kind of performance needed to show the Olympic Qualifiers were just an outlier and not a trend.

What a goal by Aron lol

Poland up 5-0 on Hungary now pic.twitter.com/wvJnWUPYSk

— Polish Puck (@PolandHockey) April 13, 2024

Poland proved they could keep up the performance as well. In just five minutes in the first period of game two, Kapica, Pas, Tyczyński, and Zygmunt all scored for Poland. In the driver’s seat, the squad didn’t let up, with Chmielewski getting another goal in the series while Dronia also got the defensemen on the board for scoring. The red and white parked the bus mostly for the final period, and Hungary would get two goals but never came close to the threat of making it competitive. Another big win for Poland at 6-2.

This was a great start for Poland. It is the team Poland I wanted to see. They were aggressive on the forecheck with a lot of creativity in the offensive zone when they had possession. Both Fucik and Miarka looked more than solid on the net; Miarka could force his way into getting some games at the World Championships. Not much looks to be changing with the defense compared to last year. Marcin Kolusz was back on defense at this tournament after playing forward during the Olympic Qualifiers. I hoped that Florczak or Zieliński would get more time to try out on defense, but both got one game on the fourth pairing. For the forwards, the offense looked good. Aron Chmielewski wanted to prove he is still one of the best after a rough year in Czechia. Kapica also looked ready to return to the national team after scoring one and adding two assists. There are going to be some really tough decisions to make this year regarding forwards. Players will be battling for spots the entire lead-up to the Worlds.

Poland will be back in action on April 18th and 19th against Slovenia.

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