At the 2018 Division 1 Group A World Championship, Poland was looking to return to the Elite after 16 years away. In 2015 and 2016, Poland took bronze medals, just one game away from reaching the top in both years. In 2017, the country took a step backwards to fourth place, and they were embarrassed on the final day, losing 11-0 to Austria. Jacek Płachta, a former hero of the national team on the ice and the coach that had led them out of Division 1 Group B and to two bronze medals, was relieved of his duties. Poland made a big move and swung for the fences in hiring Ted Nolan. 

Nolan previously won the Jack Adams Award, which goes to the NHL Coach of the Year. He had also just come off a run with team Latvia, a small hockey country that was taking massive strides. The highlight of his tenure was helping take Latvia to the Olympics, where the country made it to the playoffs and lost a close battle with the goliath of hockey, Canada. While Nolan would not be in Poland most of the time, he was joined by his longtime assistant, Tom Coolen. Coolen, who was going to coach in Poland with GKS Katowice, had also worked on the Latvia staff. The Jack Adams winner appointment received a bit of attention from outside of Poland and it seemed like the national team was serious about competing. Instead, it was a year of concern, controversy, and disappointment. 

Everything that had happened could all be erased with a good performance at the World Championship. If Poland could finally reach that gold or silver medal to earn promotion, everything would be forgotten by the fans. The red and white split their opening games, falling to Italy 3-1, but defeated Slovenia 4-2. Unfortunately, they would fall in the next two matches as Great Britain won 5-3, and longtime rival Hungary hung on for a 3-2 victory. Things were looking bleak but not hopeless. That win over Slovenia meant there were still ways for Poland to stay up. They just had to beat or grab points against Kazakhstan. It is a team that last year they took to overtime and lost 1-0. 

Kazakhstan scored two in a minute and fourteen seconds apart just halfway through the first. They added a third at the beginning of the second and were up 3-1 at the game’s halfway point. They added their fourth goal with less than a minute left in the second. That fourth goal would chase the Witcher Przemysław Odrobny from net and import American goalie John Murray entered. A fifth Kazakhstan goal came six minutes into the third. After that fifth goal, the emotions got the best of Poland, and the players just unraveled emotionally. Dziubinski would get a major penalty and be tossed for spearing. Two more penalties would come, and on the ensuing five on three, Roman Starchenko would score his fourth goal of the game. Kazakhstan finished off a dysfunctional team Poland, and sent them down to Group B. Kazakhstan won a bronze medal at that tournament. They got promoted after winning gold the following year. Kazakhstan have stayed at the top division since their promotion in 2019. 

Ted Nolan was let go from Poland following the tournament. Finnish coach Tomek Valtonen would take the reigns. The national team sometimes felt hopeless, but there was an assured feeling of victory and promotion back to Group A waiting for them at the end of the year. Instead, at the 2019 Division 1 Group B World Championship, Poland fell before Romania in a 3-2 overtime final. Polish hockey was officially stuck in Group B. This was the most hopeless moment for the sport in the country. The idea that Poland was a team that belonged at the top or even close to there had died.

Valtonen and his squad continued to battle despite the setback against Romania. The team’s next challenge was in February 2020 at the Olympic Qualifiers in Kazakhstan. Poland easily won their first two games, beating Netherlands 8-1 and Ukraine 6-1. Now, it was a rematch with Kazakhstan on their home ice with advancing to the final round of Olympic Qualification at stake. This match would not be as close as Poland’s previous encounter. The opponent had only added more KHL imported players. The talent gap between the two countries got wider on paper. After two periods, it was all tied at two. At the start of the third, Maciej Urbanowicz scored to give Poland back a lead they had already lost twice. A desperate Kazakhstan squad would up their attack for the final period, leading in shots 15-2. John Murray closed the door, making 51 saves in the match. Poland got their win back against Kazakhstan in front of their home crowd. Less than a month later, the world would halt as covid spread. 

International hockey in the lower divisions disappeared from the map for the next two years as the COVID-19 pandemic raged on, canceling IIHF tournaments. During that time away, Polish hockey changed. Robert Kalaber took over as head coach, while legendary national forward Leszek Laszkiewicz was installed as the general manager. Despite no World Championships, Poland still got to play their final round of Olympic Qualification. They would shock the hockey world again by earning an upset win over Belarus at 1-0. It was Poland’s first taste of life at the top of the hockey world after so long away. The following games would go as expected, with Poland losing to Slovakia at 5-1, while Austria dispatched them at 4-1. This was far from the 11-0 thrashing Austria gave Poland four years prior. 

The lower divisions finally resumed with the 2022 World Championships. Poland had continued to show progress at non-IIHF events with Kalaber and Laszkiewicz at the helm. There was a new generation of young players like Alan Lyszczarczyk, Dominik Pas, Kamil Walega, and Pawel Zygmunt making major contributions. In front of their home fans in Tychy, Poland took all four games, earning gold and promotion from Group B back to Group A. In 2023, back at Group A, Poland showed they wanted the top division and would defeat Italy in an all-time clash to secure promotion. The streak had extended to 22 years away from the top of the hockey world, and now Poland finally broke it. Back-to-back promotions after Kazakhstan sent them down in 2018. 

Poland was just happy to be there, was the opinion of fans and analysts from other countries. It was fantastic to see Polska back at the 2024 IIHF Championship, but they thought it was also an easy win. Poland immediately shut that notion down by taking Latvia to overtime in game one. The defending bronze medalist just lost a point to the silver medal-promoted team from Division 1. We have seen that exact style from Poland for the rest of the tournament. A never die attitude that saw them come back late in games to make it interesting. Poland avoided blowouts and kept things close in each game. They have earned a lot of respect along the way. Polish fans have been loud and proud, ringing out with loud Polska chants no matter the score or situation of the red and white. Regardless of what happens, the squad made their country proud. They showed Polish hockey belongs at the top and have hopefully inspired a new generation of hockey players back home. 

While this tournament has been great for Poland, moral victories, respect, and competitive scores were not the only things they wanted at the tournament. They want to stay up. Poland was falsely relegated in 2002 due to the Far East qualifier. Now Poland is back! It was thought to be a one-game tournament for Poland, and now it turned out to be one. The team that buried Poland in Division 1 Group B can now send them down again. In their fight for survival, Poland can now send Kazakhstan down this time. The red and white have the last win in this story, and they did that in front of 5,000 Kazakh fans. In Ostrava, Kazakhstan will have to try and do what Poland did, but in front of 8,000 Polish fans that are ready to blow the roof off the building. 

This is a different Kazakhstan team from that last encounter. They no longer use all those former NHL players and KHL star imports. There are no more Brandon Bochenski, Curtis Valk, Dustin Boyd, Darren Dietz, Jesse Blacker, Henrik Karlsson, Nigel Dawes, or the countless Russian imports. Last year, without all the naturalized players, Kazakhstan found a lot of success. They defeated Slovenia 4-0 and then won shootouts over Norway and Slovakia. It made them more than safe from relegation. This year, that is not the case; while they picked up a win against France to open the tournament, the rest of their schedule saw them begin a five-game losing streak. 

Kazakhstan sits at three points, while Poland only has a single point. If Poland wins in regulation, they survive; any other result, Kazakhstan will continue to stay up. We have seen Poland and Kazakhstan play the same teams. Here is how they compare

Poland	Stat	Kazakhstan
6	GP	6
10	Goals For	9
1.67	Goals For Per Game	1.5
26	Goals Against	30
4.33	Goals Against Per Game	5
20.67	Shots For Per Game	17.83
40.5	Shots Against Per Game	39
0.00%	Powerplay %	14.29%
76.47%	Penalty Kill %	68.75%

This is not a Kazakhstan team that is great offensively. They are at their best defensively. Until the USA game, they had done a great job suppressing shots and moving skaters to the outside.  When the pressure is on for them, Kazakhstan will make mistakes. The key for Poland is to get off to a hot start and not let Kazakhstan grab the lead early. Kazakhstan would be happiest to put up a couple of goals to start then just slow the game down and run out the clock. Poland has had a couple of slow starts at this tournament, and that could mean death for their chances if it happens on Monday. That is a lesson Poland has to have learned from their defeat against France. 

The goaltending for the the blue and yellow is inconsistent. Nikita Boyarkin will likely be the starter on Monday, he will be playing in back to back games. Boyarkin had an outstanding game against team Sweden but struggled against the USA and Germany. If not Boyarkin, Andrei Shutov would be the starter. Shutov played the final period against team USA, but like his tendy teammate he has had up and downs the entire tournament. 

Up until the USA game, the Kazakhstan penalty kill had kept teams pretty well in check. That is not something Poland wants to see with their zero for eighteen powerplay. This game will likely be tight and the red and white has to take advantage of their odd man chances. Even if that just means putting shots on net and getting chances to wear out the Kazakhstan defenders. That team is coming off a 10-1 defeat against Team USA. The more pressure you put on Kazakhstan the less energy they have left. 

For Poland the keys to the game are in their favor and we have not seen it a lot from them in the tournament. We will have to see the team Poland that we saw versus team Italy at the D1A World Championship just a year ago. They have to be aggressive on the forecheck and lay in their hits. Two things I know most Polish skaters relish the opportunity to do. If Poland can get off to a hot start and keep that pressure up the game flow should tilt towards them.

Monday versus Kazakhstan is Poland’s gold medal or Stanley Cup game seven. While the pressure is on to stay up and play in the Elite for back-to-back tournaments for the first time since a streak of four from 1973-1976. The red and white have done their country proud. Polish hockey proved it belongs. Tons of new fans watched these games with plenty showing up in Ostrava to attended their first hockey match. There will certainly be a few Polish players that get interest to move up to stronger leagues. Everything Poland has wanted outside winning has happen at this tournament. Now it is time to win and bury Kazakhstan.

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!