Photo Source: IIHF

It was an all time classic game to open the 2024 World Championships for Poland. The red and white led most of the matche before taking an overtime defeat to last year’s bronze medalist, Latvia. While a win would have been better, earning an early point is key for Poland. This game showed that Polish hockey belongs at the top level of competition. In all the good news, Poland, unfortunately, has lost a key player. Defenseman Bartosz Ciura suffered a broken finger in the match that will keep him out of the remainder of the tournament. In his place, Kacper Macias from GKS Katowice has been called up. 

The 31-year-old Ciura is a key defender for Poland and played 16 minutes and 57 seconds in the opening contest. He did complete the game with a broken finger. We don’t know the exact moment when the injury occurred, but there was a blocked shot in the second period by Ciura that saw his stick get snapped, and he seemed to go off in discomfort. The stay-at-home defenseman has spent most of his career in Poland with GKS Tychy but did play a season abroad in this year’s host country, Czechia, with HC Frýdek-Místek. 

Kapcer Macias makes the national team now in his place. Macias is the older brother of Krzysztof Macias, who scored twice in Poland’s opening game. The older Macias developed in the Czech junior system. He has played in Poland the last two seasons with GKS Katowice. His play improved this year, resulting in a larger role and a new career-high in points. In 58 games, the young defenseman recorded 10 points (3G-7A-10PTS). His double-digit point total led all Polish U23 defenders. The Nowy Targ native was the captain of Poland U20 at the 2023 Division 1 Group B U20 World Championship. Macias will be the second youngest player on Poland’s team. 

With Ciura out, we will see a lineup change. Jakub Wanacki was Poland’s lone healthy scratched defender. 6’4 Wanacki would bring some size to the Polish lineup they lack outside Zygmunt. He uses his long stick well to create takeaways and block shooting lanes. For at least tomorrow’s game versus Sweden, I would expect Wanacki to slot in. We will see if Kacper Macias can break the lineup later in the tournament.

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