With Poland back at the top World Championship, they’re going up against a lot of NHL talent. The Swedish roster they faced had 18 NHL players. It only made sense then to have an NHL talent evaluate how Poland played in their matches versus Sweden and Latvia. I chatted with former NHL defenseman Mark Borowiecki after he reviewed Poland’s first two games. Borowiecki played for the Ottawa Senators and Nashville Predators across 12 NHL seasons; he now works as a development coach for the Predators.

Borowiecki has Polish heritage, with his paternal grandparents both immigrating from Poland. He also holds Polish citizenship. While he isn’t coming out of retirement to help the team’s defense, Poland’s performance at the Worlds has certainly made him a fan and given him a European team to feel connected to.

“Loved the energy from teams and fans in LAT game. Was really, really cool to watch and listen to the emotion.” – Mark Borowiecki

Poland went up against a juggernaut of a Swedish defense headlined by Erik Karlsson, Victor Hedman, and Rasmus Dahlin. Many thought Poland would be lucky to score on Sweden. Latvia also brought a lot of talent, with all their defenders playing in strong leagues outside of Latvia. Despite that talent difference, Poland was able to score five goals and generated plenty of high-danger scoring chances. Poland’s offensive play earned praise, but there was room for improvement.

Some good opportunistic offensive chances, especially in the SWE game, where their goalie came up huge. Great to see that jump and pace when opportunities arise. Need to find ways to extend possession in offensive zone though. Value the puck, make the other teams defend, hang onto it in the OZ when they have the opportunity. Too much one and done offence. Forecheck didn’t accomplish much in SWE game, but I think you see the quality of their D and ability to break pucks out.

The national team’s defense is a major area of concern. The average age of the defensemen being well in the 30s. The former NHL defenseman had a lot of good feedback when it came to the Polish defensive play.

D backing in too much and not holding gaps. Leads to a lot more time defending and time spent in defensive zone. Need to learn to work in tandem as a pairing and shift and squeeze to end rush plays and transition pucks. Too much “sitting in the rocking chair” and backing in. An outdated way of defending the rush, but a difficult habit to break as you are asking D to get out of their comfort zone and challenge off the rush a bit more.

The part about it being an outdated way to cover rush struck a chord with me; that is one of the biggest things I hear from non-Polish players about Poland. It has positives and negative, as they’re not used to it at first, which creates challenges, but the modern speed of the game eventually catches up and makes it exploited. While the habit is hard to break, Borowiecki offered more thoughts on what Poland can do in their own zone to help alleviate it.

D zone coverage was passive for me in both games. Too much reading and reacting. Need to contest pucks, pressure possession, and create opportunities for puck battles along the wall. Not just follow people around and protect middle ice. Good players will pick you apart. We call it “2nd quick” in the NHL. First man need to create contact / confrontation against player with puck. Hit him, engage physically in some capacity, or just stop his momentum. That creates an opportunity for your second support player to come in and fish out a loose puck or win possession and end zone time in the defensive end.

When it came down to specific players. Dominik Pas was brought up. The 24-year-old two-way forward has been a force on the penalty kill and a spark plug offensively. He is a name, who Polish fans and media have long seen as a top player, but not one who has broken out beyond Poland. Borowiecki took notice.

Good motor and skating. Defensively aware. Had some good chances in SWE game.

Every Polish fan has been getting excited about Krzysztof Macias. The youngest player on team Poland scored twice in the opening match. Many fans are hoping he can up his NHL draft stock or get a scout’s attention for his future professional career. His mentality on the ice earned some strong praise.

Macias is young but I like that he looks like he wants to be a difference maker offensively. Seems like he wants the puck on his stick. Tough to teach that mindset. Great that he has it.

It was great to receive Borowiecki’s thoughts on Poland. His notes should give Polish fans a few things to watch as the games go on. On my re-watch of games and highlights from the two matches, you start seeing what Borowiecki brought up. That is not just Poland’s struggles, but also how Poland’s opponents performed. You see see a more modern defense on the blue line, with that second man coming in. It really appears when you look at the non-Wronka zone entries and see how much harder it is for Poland to break in against these defenses versus how teams gain the zone on Poland. I wanted to thank Borowiecki again for our chat and look forward to his future thoughts on the squad.

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!