The white and red went to Scotland carrying momentum. They won both of their first two European Cup tournaments. The February edition would be a face-off against more of their common Division 1 foes in Great Britain, Slovenia, and Ukraine. Pekka Tirkkonen had a new generation of Polish hockey players playing well. Concerns that existed about the retirement of veteran leaders all seemed to vanish. The depth of Poland showed that they could compete at the Division 1 Group A level if needed. Would that positivity carry over into 2026? 

The first tournament of 2026 needs to be a wake-up call for Poland. Many of the positives I highlighted earlier this year have taken a step back. Tirkkonen’s lineup was without some top players on both offense and defense. The most disappointing was Kamil Wałęga, whose Slovak club asked him to stay back because their league was not on break. While I think the offense held up, the defensive effort was inconsistent and easy to break through against. But maybe the most concerning area was in net, where all three regular goalies struggled. 

Recap 

Poland opened the tournament against the only country to have beaten them this season, Slovenia. That first game was a tight 4-3 overtime loss. The Poles kept pace in the first period, reflecting that initial contest. In the second period, everything fell apart. Slovenia seemed to be on a completely different level than Poland. It wasn’t just self-inflicted wounds, but Slovenia controlled and dominated the ice. Things changed in the third, with Slovenia taking a more defensive approach with their 4-1 lead, while the Poles leveled up offensively.  In the final period, Poland scored twice to make it a one-goal game. Time would run out for the Poles, and they suffered their first regulation loss of the 2025-26 season. Final score of 4-3 for Slovenia.

Game two felt a lot like a repeat of the first. The two countries played an even first period, and Poland came out of it with a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately, Ukraine dominated the style of the game in the second period. Unlike the first game, Ukraine didn’t go on the defensive as strongly, and the Poles couldn’t find any late scoring. Final score 4-2 for Ukraine.

There were many comments after this game saying Poland shouldn’t be losing to Ukraine. Over the last five games, Ukraine is 4-1 against Poland. I get that at one point, Ukrainian ice hockey was a punching bag. For years, they were stuck in Division 1 Group B. But times have changed. The war forced players to leave the Ukrainian system, and it opened up new opportunities for them. Their young core has players in the ECHL, Ligue Magnus, Liiga, Maxa Liga, NCAA, Tipsport Extraliga, and Tipsport Liga. Look at Poland’s own domestic league; in the top 10 scorers, Poland and Ukraine have the same number of players. You’ll also find three Ukrainian players in the top scorers before you find three non-naturalized Polish players. Poland shouldn’t expect to beat Ukraine; Ukraine has jumped in front of Poland. 

On the final day of the tournament, Poland was looking to leave Scotland with a win. Poland lost more players as Lewandowski was injured, while Damian Tyczynski had to return to Czechia for club duties. It was quite the show as Great Britain and Poland traded goals and leads continuously. Great Britain nabbed the final goal on a power play with six minutes to go. Final score 5-4 for Great Britain.

After going 5-1 to start the European Cup of Nations, Poland finished 0-3 in Scotland. 

Offense Keeps Pace 

I think the Polish offense looked good at this tournament despite missing so many key bodies. Even when playing with just 11 players on Saturday, they found another four goals. Christian Mroczkowski’s return to the national team was a welcome surprise as the Polish-Canadian picked up a couple of assists. Paweł Zygmunt had his best offensive tournament in a while for Poland. The big winger had a lot more confidence in his offensive game. He looked more like the power forward Poland needs than a grinder. Jakub Ślusarczyk has also continued a very solid international season. The depth was heavily relied on by Poland offensively, and they found a way to keep pace and compete. 

Down on Defensive Depth 

While the offensive depth stepped up to fill its role, the defensive depth left a lot more on the table.  All out for Poland were Bartosz Florczak, Bartosz Ciura, Bartlomiej Pociecha, Karol Biłas, Jakub Wanacki, Kacper Macias, and Mateusz Zieliński. When it came to shutting down the best of their opponents, Poland came up short and even made more errors that created chances than they cleaned up. Nothing shows that more than Liam Kirk’s three points to lift the host to victory. I liked what I saw from Eryk Schafer at times, but still plenty to clean up for the young defender. He really chipped in well from the blueline offensively, which caught my eye early against Ukraine. There is plenty of time and more games before the World Championships, but this feels like a group Poland’s gotta find some consistency in soon. 

Where was the three-headed monster? 

Coming out of the last couple of tournaments, the fears of what team Poland would look like without John Murray were being alleviated. Maciej Miarka, Michal Kieler, and Tomas Fucik were all playing great in net. This tournament left team Poland searching for answers. All three goalies struggled to make big saves or bail out the group in front of them. Poland did not provide much help, with some slow periods that really tested their goalies. Still looking forward to the World Championships, you have two big matches against France and Kazakhstan. Poland is going to be the underdog in those games, and they will need their goalies to come up big. Who in Poland will be able to steal games as Murray did? 

All that to say, a shorthanded Poland lost three games to similar or better opponents by a total of four goals. This group is still playing much better hockey here than they were at last year’s World Championships. But it’s a reminder that Poland is not above any of its Division 1 rivals and can’t just expect to win. Tirkkonen himself said these tournaments are partly to test players and see if they can meet or exceed expectations. Plenty of players have stepped up while others have failed to rise to the occasion.

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Thumbnail Photo via polskihokej.eu