Poland U16 are now back-to-back Riga Cup champions! It was also the third year in a row that they made it to the finals of the U16 tournament. We typically don’t start covering players under 16 until the Riga Cup. Given Poland’s success at the tournament, it always seems like a good place for a first impression. The tournament is made up of six group play games during two gamedays. After the group play is finished each team will play two more games in a playoff to determine the champions and placements. Each game lasts 45 minutes with three fifteen minute periods. Most of the teams in the competition were Latvian, but there were also clubs from Finland, Lithuania, and Sweden. Great Britain and Estonia also sent their U16 national teams. 

2024 Roster 

Goalies: Bartosz Kowalik, Miłosz Kuźnik, Samuel Plinta

Defenseman: Filip Bogdał, Kajetan Domalewski, Krystian Kowalczyk, Igor Łukaszewski, Jan Matera, Mateusz Midzierski, Michal Nakoneczny, Aleksander Wanat

Forwards: Adrian Bagienko, Krzysztof Centkowski, Filip Chrobociński, Jakub Czyż, Borys Dawid, Antoni Galant, Natan Golofit, Filip Hudziak, Wiktor Klimczak, Radosław Kot, Stanislaw Lewandowski, Jeremi Prokurat, Leon Stryczek, Amadeusz Tyński

Results 

Gameday 1, April 19th 

Prizma (Latvia) vs. Poland U16: 0-3

Goals: Adrian Bagienko (17:34), Amadeusz Tyński (29:16), Radosław Kot (38:59)

Goalie: Bartosz Kowalik 8/8

Poland U16 at Stockholm Golden Wings (Sweden): 2-2

Goals: Radosław Kot (15:12), Leon Stryczek (19:06)

Goalie: Samuel Plinta 15/17

Liepajas SSS (Latvia) vs. Poland U16: 1-3

Goals: Adrian Bagienko (23:23), Amadeusz Tyński (30:51), Adrian Bagienko (37:19)

Goalie: Miłosz Kuźnik 12/13 

Gameday 2, April 20th

Poland U16 at Emppu’s Hockey talents (Finland): 1-1

Goals:  Borys Dawid (0:26)

Goalie: Bartosz Kowalik 14/15

Poland U16 at HK Kurbards (Latvia): 3-1

Goals:  Stanislaw Lewandowski (5:20), Radosław Kot (16:02, 16:53)

Goalie: Samuel Plinta 10/11

Gelezinis Vilkas / HC Klaipeda (Lithuania) vs. Poland U16: 3-0

Goals: NA

Goalie: Miłosz Kuźnik 11/14

Gameday 3, April 20th. Playoffs

Semi-Finals. Poland U16 vs. Jelgavas LSS (Latvia): 1-0

Goals: Adrian Bagienko (41:17)

Goalie: Bartosz Kowalik 7/7

Finals. Stockholm Golden Wings (Sweden) vs. Poland U16 : 2-3

Goals:  Amadeusz Tyński (26:04, 44:54), Filip Chrobociński (43:25)

Goalie: Bartosz Kowalik 20/22

Final Thoughts

Poland walks away with another Riga Cup in their possession. It came dramatically when Poland U16 scored two goals in the final two minutes to tie and take the lead in the final game against Stockholm. Poland is at an advantage, given most of its opponents are U16 clubs, while Poland picks from it’s entire U16 player pool. Still, the competition was even all around. Poland played well, suppressing shots and keeping the puck in their possession most of the time. Often in games, I was surprised they didn’t find a way to score more. Poland really took advatnage of creating chances off forced turnovers as well. They showed in each game that they were the better team mostly.

When it comes to individual players, Amadeusz Tyński, Adrian Bagienko, and Radosław Kot were your standout forwards for Poland. All three players were tied for the lead in points with four goals and a single assist. Bagienko and Tynski both missed the game that was Poland’s only loss at the tournament. Borys Dawid led the team in assists at three while also scoring one goal of his own. Wiktor Tanczyk was Poland’s defensive leader and named the best defender at the tournament. Among the goalies, Bartosz Kowalik stood out for Poland and earned the starting job for the playoff round. While not facing much pressure, he finished with a .942 SV% in his four matches. This was a good first look, and while the U18 team is pretty well stacked on depth right now, I could see a few players making a push in another year or two.

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