After being relegated from Division One in 2024, 2025 would be all about redemption for Poland. The country proved their ceiling can be a division one program by beating South Korea at Olympic Qualifiers and taking 12th-place China to overtime. They also showed there is a lot of work to do with big losses to Japan and France during the quest for an Olympic bid. For Poland to continue to build on their success, it would start at home. Poland hosted the Division 2 Group A World Championship in Bytom! The rink is the home of Polonia Bytom, which have won ten straight TLHK championships. With the home ice advantage, could the white and red find their way back to Division One?
Poland had a significant talent advantage for this tournament. There is not much to say about the first four games, though we will discuss the Iceland game more later. Poland rolled their first opponents with finals of 8-2 versus Mexico, 9-2 versus Chinese Taipei, 2-0 against Iceland, and 9-0 versus DPR Korea. Then came the final game against Spain. In our preview, we talked about Spain being Poland’s closest competition. They’re a growing program and have a great coaching staff. Still, Poland beat them 6-4 in a warm-up match before the tournament. When it came time for the crucial game to decide gold, Poland laid an egg. They came out slow and careless with the puck. Spain capitalized and scored three goals in the first ten minutes. Poland would settle in, but never reach their top gear. Spain would win 4–2, and now Poland stays in Division 2.
100 For Późniewska
The best story of this tournament for the white and red was the history made by captain Karolina Późniewska. The icon of Polish hockey reached two historic 100 milestones. With three points against Mexico, she became only the fourth player in IIHF history to record 100 career points at IIHF World Championship events. Later in the tournament, her first goal versus DPR Korea would give her 100 goals in her national team career! Even late in her career, Późniewska is one of the best in European hockey.
Without the Brick Wall
Poland was without long-time star goalie Martyna Sass for this tournament. The squad would rely on a duo of Agata Kosińska-Horzelska and Nadia Ratajczyk. While both did well in the tournament’s first four games against very low-ranked teams, Poland needed them to come up big in one game, and that didn’t happen. Ratajczyk got the start against Spain and allowed three goals on nine shots. Kosińska-Horzelska took over for the rest of the game but would allow one more goal. Now I will say right away that most of the goals were not all on the goalies. Big turnovers and defensive lapses put them in rough spots. When Poland struggled in the past, Sass was there to give them some cushion, but Poland didn’t have that this tournament.
Have to be Confident and Faster
There was a major team flaw I started to notice in the Iceland game. Poland was struggling to score and became hesitant with the puck. First, full credit to Andrea Bachman, who put on an absolute show for Iceland, stopping the first 40 shots she faced. But for Poland, their passes were not crisp, they would stop and try to react too much to the game, giving time for Iceland to adjust. You just can’t have that. The game is getting faster and faster, Polish players need to be more confident and make quicker decisions. Their slow pace sometimes allowed Bachmann to recover and get in places to make saves that should have been open net goals or dangerous chances. The same thing happened against Spain who, with more talent among their skaters, could make Poland pay for it.
Tons of Turnovers
Poland was terrible with the puck at this tournament. No matter the opponent, but especially against Iceland and Spain. Unforced or with slight pressure, Poland was constantly coughing up the puck. Especially in the third period against Iceland, it was becoming hard to watch as Poland was just throwing the puck around to no one on the power play. It happened against Spain too. The most significant error being a Julia Zielinska icing where she failed to reach center ice before dumping the puck in. That resulted in a faceoff in the Polish zone. Spain won the faceoff and scored right off it. These are self-inflicted wounds, and they are why Poland lost and is staying in Division Two.
What’s Next
Welp, Poland is staying in Division 2 and will likely be a contender next year, but there will be stiff competition in either Slovenia or Kazakhstan, who will be relegated from D1B. The spot where the women’s national team is reminds me of where the men’s national team was in 2019. They formerly won medals in a higher division, got unexpectedly relegated, and failed to achieve immediate promotion the following year. On the bright side, the women’s national team has some elite prospects coming in, such as Justyna Koszyk, Malgorzata Zakrzewska, and Matylda Stepien. Fingers crossed, they will also get another shot next year and not have to wait years due to a global pandemic like the men’s team did.
However, there is a much bigger picture to discuss with Polish hockey. It’s not in a great place. While I truly believe the actions of the women’s team staff and players are all done mostly the right way and with good intentions, it has not been enough. The women’s game is growing much faster outside Poland. Their rivals are getting much better and far more structured.
One of the most common things import coaches and players tell me about Poland is that players have a distinct lack of play style. A lack of overall structure in training and practice leads to a wide variety in Polish players. A lot of times, players go out on their own for development. It creates uneven players who don’t mesh well together. The results show disjointed teams and poor chemistry. What happens on the ice depends more on an individuals’ performance than on Poland as a team. It also means Poland lacks good fundamentals compared to other squads. They’re more prone to make mistakes, make the wrong reads, or have poor awareness.
It is also not great to have a hockey league where you have a team with 10 straight titles. Your best players are almost all grouped together on one club. While Janow and Gdansk have made strides to be competitive, the results are not there. Bytom lost one game this year. You have teams of national team players that also compete in the European Women’s Hockey League, playing against teams of amateurs, recruiting anyone who wants to learn and play hockey. How is it suitable for anyone when Bytom beats their opponent 54-0 in two games in the first round of the playoffs? What is anyone gaining from those games? Bytom players are not gaining anything from constantly embarrassing opponents. Numerous parents have told me how Polish hockey beats the confidence out of young players, and now they’re just bitter at the game they once loved. I don’t see that machine breaking soon.
You look at the investments of other countries and you see how they’re addressing their issues. I mean no disrespect to the Polish staff at this event. But look at Spain, on their staff, you have Americans Ashley Salerno and Taylor Waslyk. Both women have played NCAA Division 1 hockey and have coached at that level. They know the women’s game on a much stronger level. Poland had a men’s national team goaltending coach leading the charge. I think Sobecki and his staff did a great job. But there are better options out there. Other countries realize this when it comes to building up staff, but Poland doesn’t do it. The likely issue is money, which the federation doesn’t have.
Quick Thoughts
- Veteran national team member Klaudia Chrapek unfortunately missed this event, but she stayed with the team, serving as team manager. It was great the legend stay involved with the team.
- I give full respect to Poland for keeping all these games as free YouTube streams while we enter the world of paid streams with IIHF.tv. Free streams are how you grow the game.
- Anna Kot had a nice tournament on defense. She reads odd man rushes well and knows when to make her first move, often breaking up passes or blocking shots.
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Thumbnail Photo via polskihokej.eu
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