Tag: Zaglebie Sosnowiec

PHL

The Most Interesting Import on Every PHL Team

Every year there are fresh faces in the PHL. Sometimes import signings are big-name players with NHL or KHL experience, while others are from lower North American or European minor leagues looking to take the next step in their careers. Some become team staples, while others are gone in less than a month. I always enjoy checking out every import signing in the PHL. Today I wanted to look at each team’s most interesting new foreign player—keyword interesting, not the most impactful or best signing. 

Cracovia Krakow – Ben Blood

Ben Blood is an American defenseman with an impressive resume. In 2007, he was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the fourth round of the NHL entry draft. He would then spend four years at the University of North Dakota. Following his college career, he would bounce around the North American minor league system, playing 80 AHL games and 50 ECHL games. He would primarily play in Liiga starting in 2015 and, in total, appeared in 300 Liiga games. The 6’4 defensemen spent last year in Austria in the ICEHL. The physical defenseman will surely be a force in the PHL this season. 

GKS Katowice – Shigeki Hitosato

Hitosato is only the third Japanese player to appear in Poland, and he was very impressive at the World Championships that Poland hosted earlier this year. Over the past three seasons, the 5’6 forward has been one of the top producers for the Tohoku Free Blades in the Asia League and Japan Cup. The Tomakomai native was the captain of the Japan U20 squad and has since transitioned into one of the top scorers for the Japanese senior team. He already scored his first PHL goal two games into the year. 

GKS Tychy – Alexander Younan

Finding good defensemen is more challenging than finding skilled forwards. Younan already has 228 games in the Hockey Allsvenskan and spent one season in the SHL. That kind of resume is not something you commonly find in the PHL. He is only the ninth defenseman to play in the PHL after playing at Sweden’s top level. Last year was his first year outside of Sweden, and he spent it in the ICEHL. 

JKH GKS Jastrzebie – Bence Bálizs

With Patrik Nechvátal retiring, there was a need for a new number one in Jastrzebie. The new netminder came from an unlikely source in one of Poland’s biggest rivals in Hungarian Bence Bálizs. The Hungary national team goalie has spent his entire career in his home country, playing in the national league and for Hungarian teams competing in the ICEHL and Tipos Extraliga. You don’t see many players take their first trip abroad during their age 32 seasons. The five-time Hungarian league Champion is only the fifth Hungary-born player to play in the PHL. 

KH Torun – Ervīns Muštukovs

Ervīns Muštukovs is the definition of a journeyman goalie. The 38-year-old has played in 13 professional leagues for 20 teams. He has represented Latvia at the Elite Division of the World Championship and reached the KHL with Latvia’s Dinamo Riga. Not only is he the clubs’ goalie, but he will also serve as goaltending coach for Torun’s MHL team. He is adding another two things to one of the longest resumes I have ever seen in hockey. 

Podhale Nowy Targ – Lukáš Hvila

Lukáš Hvila is a legend in Slovakia’s top league. He has the fifth most games played in league history, with 969 games over 19 seasons. The 40-year-old hasn’t just played in his home country either. He made stops in Czechia, France, Kazakhstan, and Slovenia. That longevity as a player is extremely impressive. A couple of months into this year, he will turn 41 and play his first season in Poland. It also is his 24th season of playing professional hockey.  

STS Sanok – Vladislav Lysenko

Vladislav Lysenko has a unique history in international hockey. The defenseman was born in Ukraine but developed in the Russian junior system. His time in Russia led to him eventually representing the Russia U18 team at the IIHF U18s and Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament. He has played in his birth country for the past two seasons and has not represented Russia since 2013. It’s an interesting background, given Russia’s current invasion of Ukraine. This invasion led to Russians being pretty much blocklisted from the PHL. The 27-year-old defenseman has spent most of his career in Russia’s second league, the VHL, but has appeared in five KHL games. 

Unia Oswiecim – Pavel Padakin

Ukrainian hockey had fallen a bit in a similar way to Polish hockey. Not many high-end players, but Pavel Padakin broke through the ceiling most Ukrainians faced. The Kyiv native worked his way up in Ukraine and earned a chance in the USA’s NAHL. He got noticed in the NAHL and would be drafted in the CHL import draft by the Calgary Hitmen. Following his junior career, he would attract the attention of the Philadelphia Flyers and sign with their American Hockey League club. After one year in the AHL, he would head to Russia and sign to the KHL. He would play in the KHL from 2016 to 2021, recording 76 points in 206 games, and earning all-star game honors in 2018. 

Zaglebie Sosnowiec – Nikita Butsenko

Our last team didn’t bring in a lot of imports and is among the leaders in Polish players in the PHL. A lot of their imports are also familiar faces to PHL fans. One of those is Nikita Butsenko, who returns to Poland for the third time. The 32-year-old center has split his career between Ukraine and Poland, along with one season in Romania. He has recorded 77 points in 110 PHL games with Polonia Bytom and Sosnowiec. Butsenko is a leader of the Ukrainian national team and has always received interest from Polish teams every offseason.

If you want to keep up with all the Polish hockey action, make sure to follow us on Twitter @PolandHockey, like our Facebook page, and add us on Instagram @PolishPuck_. Also, support us on Patreon to help keep the content flowing!

PHL

2022-23 PHL Standing Predictions

The hockey season is officially in full swing. The season finally starts after a crazy offseason involving wars complicating players and teams, teams backing out and then backing in, and everything else in Polish hockey. This year, in my opinion, should continue to show the strength of the PHL and how it has improved. That should already be seen across Europe with last year’s champions, GKS Katowice, beating the runner-ups of Switzerland, ZSC Lions. Will they repeat as champions, or will a new team take the crown?

9. Podhale Nowy Targ

Podhale will most likely be repeating as the worst team in the PHL. But this time, it is not an easy guess. Podhale is much better this year, especially with the additions of Kevin Lindskoug and Martin Przygodzki. Last year, Podhale won only three games, so their one win in four games this year is a promising sign. New head coach Juraj Faith has a lot of challenges to face, but they have done a solid job of assembling a roster of PHL veterans, young talent, plus quite a few random imports. While I think they will finish last in the PHL, I don’t believe they’ll be as bad as the last-place teams of the past.

8. Zaglebie Sosnowiec

Zaglebie Sosnowiec had an up-and-down off-season, which is how this season will probably go. I see them finishing in eighth place, where they were last year. Much of that will come down to how Patrik Spesny and Sebastian Lipinski perform in net. Spesny had a rough year in Sanok last season, while Lipinski has never had extended PHL playing time. The offseason additions of Jakub Witecki and Nikita Butsenko will be relied on heavily for the offense. I like what they’re doing on defense with some young additions that will finally get big chances. I approve of where they are going, but it is just not a winning team right now.

7. STS Sanok

Sanok had the roughest offseason of any team. Not due to anything with roster building, but their main sponsor’s building burned down. They originally had to back out of the PHL due to funding but were saved just a minute before midnight. The team brought in a whole new batch of Finnish players who will once again be relied on as team leaders. Ville Heikkinen has the potential to be a really solid producer while getting Kalle Valtola from GKS Katowice should really help on the backend. Unfortunately, losing the PHL’s leading scorer Jakub Bukowski and Radoslaw Sawicki is something I don’t think they added enough to overcome. In the third straight repeat, I have Sanok finishing seventh.

6. KH Torun

I have KH Torun also repeating their place from last year. While not exciting, that is just the bottom of the PHL. Only three players from their top ten scorers are returning this year. The Kalinowski brothers will be relied on heavily to step up their production. While young, Mark Viitanen is a big-body forward and has a lot of potential to be an impactful winger. The strength of this team is on defense. The addition of Jakub Gimiński will be a major key to competing with top clubs, and I am really excited to see the sophomore year of Eryk Schafer. The true key will be how well veteran Latvian goalie Ervīns Muštukovs holds up in net. Depending on how young players produce or imports turn out, Torun could stun a few teams.

5. JKH GKS Jastrzebie

JKH GKS Jastrzebie is the top team to me that had the most disappointing offseason. In net, I am very wary of Bence Bálizs as the starting goalie taking over for Patrik Nechvátal. Vitālijs Pavlovs, who was a key player last year, was surprisingly dismissed this season after one game. The team brought the well-traveled Josef Mikyska to replace Pavlovs in that top center role. Mikyska should be close to a point-per-game player in the PHL. Losing Frenks Razgals, Martin Kasperlík, and Roman Rác hurts a lot, and the forwards they brought in the replace them doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence. The big news was being able to retain star forward Dominik Pas. A strong Polish core should keep them towards the top, but I don’t know about contending.

4. Cracovia Krakow

Cracovia’s roster strength might change since I don’t doubt one or two players might be here just for the Champion Hockey League games. Still it was quite the offseason for Poland’s New York Yankees as they raided other PHL teams of top forwards like Martin Kasperlík, Mateusz Michalski, Patryk Wronka, Radoslaw Sawicki, Robert Arrak, and Roman Rác. Combine that with talented imports including Jack Walker, Marek Račuk, and Vojtěch Polák, and it is hard to see Cracovia not having a top offense. They retained their strong defensive core based around Ales Jezek, Jakub Saur, and Jiri Gula, and I’m really intrigued by the addition of American Ben Blood. In net Rok Stojanovič and David Zabolotny should be more than enough to lead this team to a potential title.

3. Unia Oswiecim

Oswiecim has a chance to lead the league in goals for. The additions of the acclaimed North American duo Alex Szczechura and Mike Cichy should guarantee them two top scorers. Pavel Padakin also has a chance to make a major impact in the PHL this year. These new imports add to already established top forwards Krystian Dziubiński and Teddy Da Costa who should lead the charge. Defense is not the strongest point of the team, but I really like the offensive potential of Pylyp Pangelov-Yuldashev from the back end, while veteran Latvian Aleksandrs Jerofejevs should provide stability. Linus Lundin is taking the starting role in goal, and while he boasts a .905 sv% in 106 HockeyAllsvenskan games, he has struggled with consistency in his career. The offensive firepower should be enough to carry this team to the top, with title dreams if they hold up defensively.

2. GKS Tychy

It feels like a season of transition for the former back-to-back champs. Last year, they finished fifth in the PHL and would lose in the bronze medal series. The team said goodbye to a lot of major imports and team leaders. Tyhcy brought in more than enough major replacements. National team members Bartosz Ciura, Filip Komorski, last year’s regular season goals leader Jakub Bukowski, and Oskar Jaśkiewicz all joined the team this offseason. Ondrej Sedivy and Roman Szturc should be solid imports addition to help the forward core. On the back end, getting Ciura back along with import Alexander Younan and Jaśkiewicz should be able to replace the losses there. Tomas Fucik has long been one of the best PHL goaltenders and I don’t see that changing. GKS Tychy is an easy pick to finish in the top two.

1. GKS Katowice

The reigning PHL champions did have a lot of talent stolen in the offseason, but I don’t see that preventing them from re-claiming their title. First, it starts in net, John Murray is the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be. They retained their national team core, which included Marcin Kolusz not returning to Podhale Nowy Targ after his loan last season. Niko Mikkola should also be an interesting addition to the team and give them an another offensive defensemen to pair on the power play with Kolusz.

Grzegorz Pasiut should continue to lead the team on the forward end, while Bartosz Fraszko and Patryk Krezolek are among the best young Polish forwards. Christian Blomqvist and Teemu Pulkkinen should be relied on heavily to produce. While Brandon Magee brings a lot of energy and should help drive play. Japanese forward Shigeki Hitosato was impressive at the Division 1 Group B World Championships, so I am excited to see what he is going to be in Poland. The team has to hope Igor Smal and Jakub Porkurat will take another step forward and contribute more offensively. It is hard to see the Champs not being the major favorite to repeat.

If you want to keep up with all the Polish hockey action, make sure to follow us on Twitter @PolandHockey, like our Facebook page, and add us on Instagram @PolishPuck_. Also, support us on Patreon to help keep the content flowing!

PHL

Michał Kotlorz Joins Zaglebie Sosnowiec after 15 Years with Tychy

Veteran defensemen Michał Kotlorz has joined Zaglebie Sosnowiec on a one year deal. The former national team member had spent the last 15 years with GKS Tychy. The former Tychy captain won four PHL championships while with the club.

One of the most experienced players in the PHL, Kotlorz started his career in 2007 with Naprzod Janow. He would make a move to GKS Tychy the following year. He has played in 797 games, scoring 83 goals and assisting on 201. He also represented Poland at six World Championships from 2010 to 2016. The Katowice native has four PHL championships, six silver medals, and three bronze medals. Kotlorz is also a six-time Polish Cup Championship. Finding a defenseman with more PHL accomplishments in their career would be hard.

For Zaglebie Sosnowiec, adding the veteran defensemen could be one of the most valuable picks up of 2023. The oldest defenseman on the Sosnowiec roster before this signing was 27-year-old Oskar Krawczyk. Five of the team’s defensemen are 24-years-old or younger, and his experience will be beyond valuable. Kotlorz is the fourth new signing on the defensive end for Sosnowiec this off-season.

If you want to keep up with all the Polish hockey action, make sure to follow us on Twitter @PolandHockey, like our Facebook page, and add us on Instagram @PolishPuck_. Also, support us on Patreon to help keep the content flowing!

PHL, Uncategorized

Andrei Dubinin Re-Signs With Zaglebie Sosnowiec on 2-Year Deal

After some uncertainty, Andrei Dubinin has re-signed with Sosnowiec on a two-year deal. The Belarusian forward is in the home stretch of getting Polish citizenship. The team had previously committed to not signing any Belarusian or Russian skaters.

This past season, the 20-year-old Dubinin was one of the best U23 skaters in the PHL. In 44 games, he recorded a new career-high of 11 points (8G-3A-11PTS). This was tied for fourth among all U23 skaters in the PHL, while the most by any skater in their age 20 season. The Minsk native has played in Sosnowiec for the last three years. Before signing in Poland, he played for BFSO Dinamo and Team Belarus U17 in Belarus’s second league. In only three years, the young forward has 37 points (19G-18A-37PTS) in 96 games. When he does attain Polish citizenship, he should be under heavy consideration for some national team chances in the future.

For Zaglebie Sosnowiec, locking up Dubinin for the next two years is a great sign. Keeping young talent in the fold is essential, especially after Sosnowiec lost two to retirement and one to free agency this offseason. Dubinin should easily slot into the middle six for Sosnowiec this year and push for more changes.

If you want to keep up with all the Polish hockey action, make sure to follow us on Twitter @PolandHockey, like our Facebook page, and add us on Instagram @PolishPuck_. Also, support us on Patreon to help keep the content flowing!

PHL

Sebastian Lipiński Returns to Poland, Signs with Sosnowiec.

After losing all three of their goalies from 2022, two to retirement and one to free agency, Sosnowiec has finished reloading. The club has now added Polish goaltender Sebastian Lipiński on a two-year deal. Lipiński spent last year abroad in England.

Long regarded as one of the best young goalies in Poland, the 21-year-old went abroad last year to England in search of more playing time. In 21 games for the Peterborough Phantoms 2, he posted a .928 SV% in the NIHL 2. Before going to England, he played with SMS Katowice and Unia Oswiecim in the PHL, where he posted a .878 SV% in 42 games across five seasons. The Torun native was the starting goalie for team Poland at multiple IIHF U18 and U20 events.

Zaglebie Sosnowiec had a huge goaltending need after Marcel Kotula and Michal Czernik somewhat surprisingly retired from hockey. Their retirements did play a factor in Lipiński returning to Poland, he said in the team’s announcement of his signing. The club also added more STS Sanok starting goalie Patrik Spesny this offseason. While Spesny was great his first years in the PHL, he struggled a lot last year. This presents a significant opportunity for Lipiński.

If you want to keep up with all the Polish hockey action, make sure to follow us on Twitter @PolandHockey, like our Facebook page, and add us on Instagram @PolishPuck_. Also, support us on Patreon to help keep the content flowing!

PHL

Kamil Sikora Re-Signs with Zaglebie Sosnowiec

Zaglebie Sosnowiec continues to keep its Polish core intact. The team has now also re-signed Polish forward Kamil Sikora. The Sosnowiec native re-upped with the team on a one-year pact.

The 25-year-old winger appeared in 45 games and produced five goals and eight assists. Four of his assist came in the five playoffs game versus GKS Katowice when Sosnowiec was eliminated in round one. The Pole with Czech heritage has been with Sosnowiec most of his career but did have PHL stops in KH GKS Katowice, Polonia Bytom, and Orlik Opole. In total, he has already played 260 PHL games in his seven-year professional career. During his junior career, he represented Poland at one U18 World Championship and two U20 World Championships.

For Zaglebie Sosnowiec this was a key re-signing to help keep their bottom-six intact. The team has still yet to address their big import losses in top Russian forwards, but continues to improve on its depth on offense.

If you want to keep up with all the Polish hockey action, make sure to follow us on Twitter @PolandHockey, like our Facebook page, and add us on Instagram @PolishPuck_. Also, support us on Patreon to help keep the content flowing!

PHL

Patryk Kogut Joins Zaglebie Sosnowiec

Zaglebie Sosnowiec has continued their busy offseason as they now add veteran PHL forward Patryk Kogut. Kogut is joining Sosnowiec on a one-year deal after spending last year with KH Torun.

Kogut spent last year in KH Torun, where he recorded 19 points (7G-12A-19PTS) in 37 games. This was his best production since the 2018 season when he recorded 22 points. Before joining Torun last season, Kogut was with GKS Tychy for seven seasons. He has also PHL stops with JKH GKS Jastrzebie, Naprzod Janow, and Orlik Opole. He has recorded 196 points (94G-102A-196PTS) in 477 PHL games. He also represented Poland at two U18 and U20 IIHF Championships while representing the senior team at a non-IIHF event in 2015.

Sosnowiec will count on Kogut, hopefully repeating some of his past production. The team will be without the Russian scorers who primarily led the team in points last season. They also added Polish forward Jakub Witecki and Ukrainians Dmytro Danylenko and Nikita Butsenko. It may be hard to replace the offensive firepower, but their overall depth has improved.

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PHL

Former CSKA Moskva Goalie Looks to Make Comeback with Zaglebie Sosnowiec

Zaglebie Sosnowiec has added a new goaltender to their squad. The team announced on Friday the signing of former CSKA Moskva goaltender Andrei Filonenko. Sosnowiec started the year with a young tandem but was rumored to be looking to add another goalie to the mix. The team was reportedly in on former Torun goalie Anton Svensson, even making an offer. Now they have a new Russian goalie that is looking to resurrect his career.

Andrei Filonenko is going to be the veteran of his younger partners in net but is only 26-years-old himself. The Moskva Russia native was developed in the CSKA Moskva system. In 2012, he led Russia’s top junior league, the MHL, in save percentage with a .942 mark. This earned him a spot on Russia’s U17 squad at the 2012 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. Russia would defeat the United States in the final to win gold, but Filonenko only played in one game. His career continued to progress as he started to creep into the pro-ranks. His best year as a professional came in 2017. That season he managed a .937 SV% in the VHL, along with a .941 SV% in four KHL games. After that career year though injury problems would take their toll from 2018 to 2020, he would only play 29 games. The 6’5 goalie did not play anywhere in the 2020 or 2021 seasons. His first game in Sosnowiec will be his first in about 3 years.

Sosnowiec went with their young tandem again to start the year. While the team around them has been improved, starting goalie Michał Czernik has seen a slight decline in his numbers. Through 18 games this year, Sosnowiec has only been named the winner in five of them. Which is the second-lowest total in the league. When the team went out and made some bigger offseason additions they had to be hoping for better results. While there is risk associated with Filonenko, at one point he appeared to have a KHL future. We have seen import goalies able to steal games and improve a team’s standing pretty quickly in the PHL before.

If you want to keep up with all the Polish hockey action, make sure to follow us on Twitter @PolandHockey, like our Facebook page, and add us on Instagram @PolishPuck_.

Uncategorized

Top Ten in Polish Hockey With The Most To Prove in 2020

The final day of 2019 is here, and it has been up and down and down year for Polish hockey. The upsides have been on the women’s side, young talent, and the PHL becoming a much more competitive league. The downsides have been on the Men’s senior team and continued backstage messes and drama. We had an article on New Year’s Eve looking at who had the best years in 2019, but today lets look at who needs to rebound after some rough patches in 2019.

Honorable Mentions: Cracovia Krakow, Kasper Bryniczka, Michael Luba, Patrik Spesny, and Risto Dufva

10. Ernest Bochnak

Bochnak saw himself left off an IIHF Polish junior squad once again. He made the Polish U18 squad in his first season of eligibility. He has yet to make a roster since, and his time is up. It is shocking to me that he was never able to get on a roster after his initial U18 appearance, where he recorded three goals and one assist. This year he was able to play professional games in both the second and third Czech leagues. Bochnak is an outstanding junior player, and he’ll find himself on a senior roster, I’m sure of it.

9. Patryk Wronka

Wronka had an outstanding 2018-19 season in the PHL and used that to sign in the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) with the Belfast Giants. The highly skilled player got off to a hot start recording two goals and one assist in six Champion League Hockey games, as well as six assists in seven EIHL Cup games. That production did not carry into the regular season, and he only recorded eight points (4-4-8) in 24 games before mutually parting ways with the Giants. Now Wronka has a fresh start with Rapaces deGap of the Synerglace Ligue Magnus. In his first three games in the French league, he has four goals and one assist. Wronka is insanely talented, the EIHL just wasn’t a fit for him. In 2020 he needs to prove that.

8. Jacek Szopinski

Jacek Szopinski has been the head coach of both Orlik Opole and Naprzod Janow over the past two years. These clubs are complete clown shows. Both teams are very uncompetitive. Now Szopinski is not responsible for their financial situation. He is responsible for lying to players, bashing players to other coaches and teams, as well as being regarded as a difficult coach to deal with. Szopinski simply needs to shape up and act like a coach should or get out of the PHL.

7. Zaglebie Sosnowiec

Zaglebie Sosnowiec showed a lot of promise last year in their first season back in the PHL after two final losses in the second league. This year with a full offseason to prepare, they signed the big Russian trio that propelled KH Torun to a strong season. The Russian trio has not been able to replicate their production, and some young players did not take as big of steps that were needed. Now going into 2020, they sit just above Janow in the standings. If the team doesn’t improve, a lot of big changes are going to be needed.

6. Sebastian Lipinski

Sebastian Lipinski looked to have the title of Poland’s best goaltending prospect on lock. In 2018, he had a great performance at the U20 World Championship and led PZHL u23 to their first win. In 2019, he had a disastrous U20 World Championship run and endured an up and down PHL year. His 2019 does include two shutouts as well as some flashes of brilliance in the net. Lipinski has to become more consistent in 2020.

5. Patryk Wysocki 

I had Wysocki ranked as my sixteenth best U23 Polish player to end last year. The Belarusian born defensemen had been able to play professionally in Belarus and Poland, while also appearing in the top Russian junior league the Molodyozhnaya Hokkeinaya Liga (MHL). This year he started in the MHL once again with the Chinese junior club but left his team after playing only ten games and receiving very limited ice time. His final game in China took place in October. Wysocki wouldn’t play another hockey game till December when he popped up in the BeNe League, a lower European league composed of teams from Belgium and the Netherlands. There he has two points in four games. It is an odd choice for him, and there isn’t enough information to guess a reason why his season has gone as it has, but he still remains one of Poland’s most developed defensive players for his age.

4. Piotr Sarnik 

Piotr Sarnik led the U20 team to a poor performance at the 2019 Division 1B U20 World Championships, but that wasn’t even his biggest challenge at the time. Risto Dufva left GKS Katowice in November to take a job in Finland, leaving behind a GKS Katowice that had not lived up to expectations. Sarnik is now tasked with giving a team identity that doesn’t have one in a PHL that is more competitive than ever. It is going to be quite a challenge for the young coach.

3. GKS Katowice

As mentioned in the last entry, Katowice is supposed to be up there with GKS Tychy. In the past seasons, they seemed to just always be one step behind GKS Tychy. This year GKS Katowice already has as many regulation losses as they did in the last two seasons combined. The season has also been very hard injury-wise with only eight players managing to play all 32 games so far this year. Katowice also released Radosław Sawicki early in the year, and Sawicki currently sits seventh in league scoring. Before the new year, Martin Cakajik left the team after two and a half seasons.GKS Katowice is going to need to regroup fast.

2. Men’s Senior Team

After being demoted to D1B for the first time since 2014, it was only expected to be a one year stop. That was not the case as Poland has continually struggled during 2019, never once show any signs of promise. 2019 saw more players retire or currently suspend their national team career. The team’s depth has taken quite the hit with younger talents not being ready to jump in. They’ll have two big chances at the Olympics Qualifiers and D1B World Championships to prove this team and staff have potential. If neither chances are successful drastic actions will have to be taken.

1. Tomek Valtonen

Simply put, it is sink or swim time. Everything that was a pro about Valtonen never came to fruition. There is some blame on both the coach and the PZHL. What he can control though, he has done poorly, so either win or leave time.

PHL

“The Russian Trio” 2019-20 PHL Team Previews: Zaglebie Sosnowiec

Leading up to the start of 2019-20 season, we will preview every team in the PHL

Last year Zaglebie Sosnowiec was able to buy their way into the PHL shortly before the season began. This left a roster made mostly for the 1st league. They finished third to last in the PHL. This year Zaglebie is back for vengeance. They went out and had one of the biggest offseasons for any team in the PHL. Their biggest signings included signing the Russian trio of Daniil Orekhin, Robert Korchokha, and Semyon Garshin. The Russian trio dominated the PHL last year propelling KH Torun to 6th place in the league. Loaded up with some nice imports and young talent, Zaglebie Sosnowiec could potentially shock the league.

Forwards

Semyon Garshin – Daniil Orekhin – Robert Korchokha

Blazej Salamon – Damian Slabon – Tomasz Kozlowski

Filip Stoklasa – Nikita Butsenko – Dominik Nahunko

Michal Bernacki – Lukasz Rutkowski – Jakub Blanik

Other forwards: Adam Jaskolski, Aleksander Gniewek, Andrzej Stojek, Kamil Sikora, Patryk Jarosz, and Vasili Yerasov. 

This forward group has so much talent. The Russian Trio of Daniil Orekhin, Robert Korchokha, and Semyon Garshin give them a line that can match up with any top line in the PHL. Blazej Salamon had a rough time in GKS Tychy last year, but still showed how much he can produce offensively with Polonia Bytom and Sosnowiec. Some of the young talents include Jakub Blanik and Michal Bernacki. Blanik was the captain of the Polish U18 team last year and had quite the strong performance. Bernacki was a goal-scoring machine during his junior days. Really excited to see what these players can do in a strong offense. Of the mid-tier teams in the PHL, they may have the best offense.

Defensemen

Vyacheslav Tryasunov – Marek Kaluza

Matej Cunik – David Turon

Lukasz Podsiadlo – Kamil Charousek

Other defensemen: Adrian Duszak, Marcin Horzelski, Michal Domogala, and Michal Dzialo.

The defense is pretty good but is nothing special. It is pretty veteran-led, with, in my opinion, only one player of their best six being under 30-years-old. Vyacheslav Tryasunov is an exciting import currently on a try-out basis right now. Tryasunov is a defensive first guy with experience in the KHL and has represented Kazakstan at the World Championships. I think he is the exact kind of player that young players like Adrian Duszak and Marcin Horzelski could learn a lot from. Matej Cunik is another good import. I think he brought a lot of value to Gdansk late last year and is a really great second pairing guy in the PHL.

Goalies

Rafal Radziszewski

Michal Czernik

Make no mistake Rafal Radziszewski is one of the best Polish goalies of all time, but he is no longer at his former status. Among goalies with at least 15 games played, he ranked 8th last year in the PHL for save percentage with .914. I would have liked to see them add another goalie, potentially a younger one, to split starts with Radziszewski. I think there were plenty of PHL goalie free-agent options for that like Michael Luba, Nick Vilardo, or Tomasz Witkowski. Michal Czernik has shown potential in the past but really struggled in the PHL so far. I think they could have really used another goaltender in that room to play some games.

Prediction: 7th

Zaglebie Sosnowiec is taking a big step forward this season, but a lot of veteran options need to help bring along the young talent this team has. As who knows how long some veteran players can keep up their production and play. Their goaltending is going to be in the bottom half of the PHL, and that prevents me from ranking them higher despite my high praise for their offense. This team is going be similar to KH Torun last year. A big part of Turon was the performance of Patrik Spesny in net, something Sosnowiec won’t likely have.

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