For a second consecutive year, it has been branded as a new era of Polish hockey. That phrase may be even more true this year as the squad looks significantly different. Starting at the top, it’s the arrival of the former Liiga coach of the year, Pekka Tirkkonen. The Finnish coach was only appointed to the position on October 3rd. There is also a switch at the general manager spot. Jarosław Rzeszutko, GKS Tychy’s Director of Hockey Operations, took over for Polish hockey icon Leszek Laszkiewicz.
On the player side, there are also quite a few big shifts. National team legends Krystian Dziubiński and John Murray hung up their skates. There is now the likely mid-season retirement of import Kamil Sadlocha. If you just go back to that 2023 Elite Division World Championship squad, only 18 of the 26 players are still active with team Poland. This quickly left the national team with three big holes in the lineup. Reinforcements are on the way. The team welcomed back star forward Aron Chmielewski and offensive defenseman Bartłomiej Pociecha. This event was also the senior debut for former NCAA forward Jakub Lewandowski.
It’s not team Poland at full strength, as due to club requests, family matters, or health issues, the white and red were without Bartosz Fraszko, Damian Tyczyński, Kamil Wałęga (has not played yet in 2025-26), Michał Naróg, Olaf Bizacki, and Patryk Wronka.
Recap
The tournament could not have gotten off to a better start for Poland as they beat rival Italy 4-2. Poland picked up four goals in the first 28 minutes before parking the bus for the rest of the game. It demonstrated a dynamic offense to start, while also possessing the ability to close out games effectively.
The second game would see the puck luck go against Poland. Despite outshooting Slovenia 35-22, Poland would fail to finish and fell 3-2 in overtime. The overtime has to be noted as the white and red came out very flat. The staff should review their overtime deployment immediately.
The final game versus Great Britain saw Poland rest its stars. It was a slow and low event game. The score reflects that. Poland finished off the Brits 1-0 to capture their second straight Sosnowiec Cup. Overall, it was a solid debut for a new look Poland.
With these short tournaments, it’s always hard to take a lot from them. While Italy and Slovenia brought good squads, the Great Britain squad was a U25 team. Only six British players had senior IIHF experience. When you add the new coach and roster, I wasn’t expecting to have major takeaways on an entirely new Poland. Still, there were three key areas I wanted to watch and see how Poland did.
High-Danger Chances
The offense started electric for Poland in this tournament with four goals in the first 28 minutes. For the rest of the tournament, they had three goals in the final 152 minutes. Its not like Poland didn’t have chances either, as they had 72 shots on goal in the final two games. Was this the white and red getting goalied, or did they just fail to finish? I think Poland looked more dangerous at times. If you factor in the unavailable list, it is most of Poland’s top six forward group. However, Poland still needs to find a way to capitalize on these chances they generate. It would help if the power play were fixed.
Powerplay
New coach and new players, but the power play issues remain. Poland was 1 of 12 for this tournament, achieving a success rate of 8.3%. Poland is 2 for 35 over their last two IIHF competitions with the man advantage. This has to change, and Poland has to find something that clicks. If it doesn’t, Poland will once again be stuck in Division 1 Group A. When the tournament began, it looked promising, but it went south as the event progressed.
Active Defenseman
One area where the offense and power play could improve is by having defensemen become more involved. This tournament was an excellent showcase for the Polish defense. They were being more active instead of reacting. I liked what I saw in them, trying to move the puck or step up offensively. Poland had one goal and five assists from their defenders in this tournament. Bartosz Florczak had a strong event on the back end and picked up two assists. Overall, it was another tournament that helped alleviate some of the defensive depth concerns I had. Nothing was perfect, but Poland had good games against fellow Elite tweener teams.
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