In their second bit of pre-season action, the Polish U20 squad went to Czechia for a tournament with junior clubs from Czechia, Germany, and Slovakia. The Ostrava Cup is becoming an annual part of pre-season junior hockey for Poland. It is a great first look at each year’s U20 group in action. Teams play in four games over two days with three 15-minute periods. In January, Poland will compete in Estonia at the Division 1 Group B U20 World Championship. The U20 squad has only managed to avoid relegation in recent years after winning four straight silver medals from 2016 to 2019. 

Ostrava Hockey Cup Roster

Goalies: Franciszek Zrebiec, Igor Tyczynski, Jakub Futryk, Kacper Zajac, Maksymilian Kura

Defensemen: Błażej Chodor, Brian Gruca, Dawid Chojęta, Dawid Lojas, Emil Szotkiewicz, Jakub Onak, Kacper Niemczyk, Kacper Rocki, Kacper Prokopiak, Karol Sobecki, Kamil Metel, Mikolaj Majewski, Patryk Hanzel, Piotr Bury, Wiktor Bieda

Forwards: Adam Sawicki, Adam Tuszkowski, Arkadiusz Sobesto,  Bartłomiej Stolarski, Damian Raczka, Emil Kieler, Kacper Ziarkowski, Jakub Hofman, Jakub Skrzypski, Jakub Szczesniak, Maksymilian Dawid, Marcel Karnas, Michal Nawrot, Michal Wiwatowski, Nikodem Wroblewski, Rafal Drabik, Sebastian Wojciechowsk, Wiktor Osmołowski

Recap

Poland kicked off the tournament with HC Vítkovice U20, which meant facing off with possible future teammates in Mateusz Majkowski and Olaf Zachariasz. Poland would grab the lead late in the first, thanks to Michal Nawrot. Their Czech foe would tie in the second, but eventually, the dam broke late in the third, with Vitkovice scoring three in the final five minutes. Poland U20 dropped their first game 4-1. 

In the second game of Friday, Schwenninger ERC U20 got the early jump on Poland with a 2-0 lead in the first period. The red and white battled back to bring the game within one, but the German junior club added one more in the third. Poland did add one more goal in the final minute, but it wasn’t enough, as they fell 3-2.

Going into Saturday winless, Poland U20 wanted to prove they still belonged. It started with a match-up versus Kölner Junghaie U20, who started 18-year-old Polish goalie Mateusz Majewski. This game was tight, with each side only finding the back of the net in regulation once. In the shootout, Majewski stopped his countrymen three times while his German teammates got past Kura three times. Poland picked up their first point in the 3-2 shootout loss. 

Poland squared off with the Slovak club HK Nitra U20 in their final tournament match. Nitra got on the board first with a goal just over a minute into the first, but Ziarkowski would tie it for Poland with only 12 seconds left in the period. In the second, both sides scored 30 seconds apart to keep it even. Ziarkowski scored his second of the game in the third, while Igor Tyczynski stopped everything he faced, leading to Poland’s first win at 3-2. 

Final Standings 

1. HC Vítkovice U20

2. Kölner Junghaie U20

3. Poland U20

4. HK Nitra U20 

5. Schwenninger ERC U20

Poland kept it close and competitive in all four games. They more than deserve their third-place finish after a great final day. Igor Tyczynski once again showed he is the top junior goalie in Poland despite some slight struggles late on Friday. It was a good tournament for Bieda, Drabik, Dawid, Prokopiak, and Ziarkowski. It was also great to see Polish players Majewski, Majkowski, and Zachariasz get chances with their club’s U20 squads. All three players are 18 or younger. Majewski had a fantastic duel against Kura and Poland. This Polish squad put in a good compete level this weekend. It is always hard to judge national teams versus club teams, but Poland has plenty of positives to take away from their pre-season play, especially on defense and in net.

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