The 2026 Division 1 Group A (D1A) U18 World Championship was a hockey celebration in Poland. It showed the amazing growth of the U18 program. This was the reward for winning back-to-back U18 gold medals. It was Poland’s first appearance at this level since the IIHF changed its group structure in 2012. It was also the debut of some of the best prospects the country has seen in a while.

The future of Polish hockey faced a tough challenge. Switzerland’s surprise relegation made an already stacked group even better. On paper, Poland was at the bottom of the table and the smallest team in both height and weight. If Poland was going to stay up, it would take fighting off rivals that seem to follow them at every level. 

The tournament started with the group’s juggernaut, Switzerland. The overall disparity between these two teams was massive right from the start, but Poland managed to keep pace and fight against. The Swiss broke through in the third, putting up four goals to beat Poland 6-1. Game two against Kazakhstan would follow a similar fate. Poland fought hard and kept it competitive for two periods. They collapsed and allowed 7 goals in the third, and lost 10-2. 

The hardest part of Poland’s schedule was out of the way. Despite the scores, they proved they could compete at this level; they just needed to keep it together for 60 minutes. Against Slovenia, Poland showed it was the better team and never trailed. They would fend off Slovenia’s late comeback to win 4-3. It was the program’s first-ever D1A win. 

The win gave Poland a lot of hope that they could stay up in Group A. All it would take is for Poland to find points against Hungary or Ukraine, or for Slovenia to fail to gain four points in their last two games. Unfortunately, Slovenia gained exactly 4 points. They picked up a win versus Hungary and a point in a shootout loss against Kazakhstan. The easy way was gone, but the white and red still controlled their own destiny. 

In game 4, Poland found early success against Ukraine. They would head into the third period with a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately, Poland’s biggest problem arose once again as Ukraine controlled the third scoring five goals. It gave Poland another ugly-looking 6-2 loss on paper, in a game where they had once shown they were a D1A quality program. 

In game 5, Poland’s backs were against the wall. It was get a point or be relegated. It was the same for their rival, Hungary. In identical situations, Hungary got what it needed. They completely controlled the game and cruised to a 5-0 victory. With the loss, Poland is relegated back to Division 1 Group B for 2027. 

A Full 60

In this tournament, Poland finished with 10 goals for and 30 goals against for a goal differential of -20. If you take out just the third period, it goes to just -3. If you even took out the last 10 minutes of each game, it would go to just -9. By the third period of these games, Poland had nothing left to give; their legs were gone. They were really giving it their all for the first 40 minutes, but just didn’t have the endurance to finish. Part of this was on themselves at times. As players spent too much time trying to force plays themselves instead of just moving the puck. Turnovers and poor choices, like when to skate it yourself, tired these players out. 

A Tale of Two Zones 

This tournament showed two very different Team Polands. In the offensive zone, I came away super impressed with the team. Plenty of times, they were able to enter the zone and then play with a structure that led to them cycling until they found a quality chance. The game’s pace wasn’t always great, but it was pretty effective in the tournament. In the defensive zone, it was the complete opposite. Players had zero anticipation of their teammates. Many breakout attempts were poor, blind, or no-look passes. Dribbling at the blueline and turnovers kept Poland in their own zone way too many times. I think this really points to the work that still needs to be done in Polish junior hockey. In uncompetitive games, players don’t gain the defensive experience needed to face top-level opponents. 

The Wsol Show 

Most of the headlines at this tournament for Poland were about the debut 14-year-old star, Gabriel Wsol. He became only the second ever 14-year-old to play at the Division 1 U18 level, and the youngest ever to score. He was matching the numbers that future NHL star Tim Stützle posted at this level. Stützle was a year older than Wsol when he debuted. The offensive confidence and release showed that Wsol is a legitimate top prospect not just for Poland but in hockey. This is a player to watch for the top rounds of the 2029 NHL draft. Poland securing his IIHF rights makes this tournament a win for them, regardless of the results. 

The Future on the Blue Line 

Poland needs help on the blue line at the senior level quickly. Plenty of the national team have either recently wrapped up their careers or are in their final days in white and red. This tournament showed that some help is on the way. Wiktor Tanczyk was the standout of the group and tied for the team lead in points with 5 (2G-3A). Adam Hornik and Aleksander Wanat impressed as well. Wanat really knows how and when to throw a hit. The group overall did a great job against their much bigger and faster opponents. Breakouts need some work, but this group showed Poland has some good players coming. 

What’s Next? 

It is the final question we ask at the end of each recap: What is next? Poland will be back down in Division 1 Group B. While it sucks to be relegated, this was the expected result. Poland put up a really good fight, and these players should be proud despite the result. Poland had barely ever been able to stay in D1B before 2023, and now they’ll be one of the group favorites. 

The 2026 Division 1 Group B tournament is ongoing and competitive. Promotion feels very up in the air right now, with the six countries battling being Austria, Estonia (Host), France, Italy, Lithuania, and South Korea. In two games, Lithuania is currently the only team with a perfect record. It is known that Japan will be joining the group after earning promotion from Division 2 Group A. 

Poland will be facing a lot of turnover. Only 7 players from this year’s squad will be eligible to return. There is some great talent in that group. Amadeusz Tynski, Antoni Galant, and Stanislaw Lewandowski all showed a lot offensively in the tournament. Lewandowski was second on Poland in shots with 14. Wsol will also be able to return, with two more years of eligibility after 2027. Poland will get to return 57% (62 shots) of all their shots during the event. The 2009 and 2010 classes also have some more top talent coming for the white and red. All things considered, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Poland back in Group A in 2028. 

Quick Thoughts

• Kacper Rydzon had a really strong tournament. The goalie faced a huge challenge and delivered, most notably by stopping 60 shots vs. Switzerland. Props to Mikolaj Juszczyk as well, who had a great final game against Hungary. 
• Leon Stryczek really impressed at this level, especially on the power play and penalty kill. He reminds me a lot of Dominik Pas. 
• Grzegorz Rostkowski did a good job in his IIHF coaching debut. Offensively, the way he had this team playing was such a huge step up from how the program looked just a few years ago. 
• Stanislaw Lewandowski has some serious wheels with a puck on his stick. Him returning is going to be huge for Poland. 
• Antoni Galant was really good at breaking into the zone at this tournament. A lot of those key offensive cycles were the result of his break-ins.

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Thumbnail Photo via polskihokej.eu