Polish hockey icon Leszek Laszkiewicz has been announced as the 2025 Richard “Bibi” Torriani Award winner. The Richard “Bibi” Torriani Award, often shortened to the Torriani Award, is annually used to honor a player from a non-top hockey nation with an outstanding career. The winners also enter the IIHF Hall of Fame in their own category, separate from builders, players, and referees. Laszkiewicz will be only the second member of the Polish national team to be inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame.

Leszek Laszkiewicz hails from Jastrzebie-Zdroj and established himself early as a young star for Poland. He would lead Poland U18 and the 1996 European U18 Junior Championships B division in points with 13 in five games, beating out future NHLer Ruslan Fedotenko. His strong U18 performance earned him a spot on Poland U20 at the World Juniors. That 1997 World Juniors team was the last time Poland competed at the top U20 event. His stellar junior career led him to sign with the Nürnberg Ice Tigers in the top level of German hockey. That same season, he made his senior national team IIHF debut for Poland at the 1998 Division B World Championship. That first event would start his historic legacy for Poland as Laszkiewicz would go on to represent Poland at a team record 18 IIHF World Championships. 

For a team Poland that constantly rose and fell IIHF levels during his career, Laszkiewicz was the team’s constant. His 96 World Championship games are second all-time for Poland, only behind fellow IIHF Hall of Famer Henryk Gruth.  He currently leads the team in all-time assists and is tied with, Wieslaw Jobczyk, for the most points in national team history. His peak with the national team was helping them earn a promotion to the 2002 World Championship top division. That 2002 team would be the last time Poland played at the top level until 2024, where Leszek Laszkiewicz was the general manager. 

While Laszkiewicz would play two seasons in Germany and a season in the top leagues of Czechia and Italy, he was a force in his home country. Laszkiewicz played 19 seasons in the top Polish league, winning the league championship in eight of them. He sits as the all-time point leader in the league history as well. He suited up for five teams in his long career but mainly played with Cracovia Krakow and his hometown JKH GKS Jastrzebie. After retiring in 2018, Leszek Laszkiewicz has worked as the general manager for his hometown club. 

The Richard “Bibi” Torriani Award has been awarded annually since 2015. Previous winners, include; Lucio Topatigh of Italy, (2015), Gábor Ocskay Jr of Hungary (2016), Tony Hand of Scotland (2017), Viktor Szélig of Hungary (2023), and most recently Dezső Dezideriu Varga of Romania (2024). Laszkiewicz will receive his award during the IIHF Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in May at the 2025 World Championships in Sweden.

At Polish Puck we would like to congratulate him on the well deserved honor and thank him once again for his impact on the sport.

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