Tag: Zuzanna Baran

Womens Hockey

2021 Top 30 Women’s U20 Players. #7-4

The march into the top ten continues as we reach the top five and those who just missed out. While this article features our player with the highest debut season on the list, we also start to get into a few players who have remained at the top of the list throughout the years. We are also now starting to reach more players who spent their 2021 season outside of Poland.

Players had to be under 20 on June 30th, 2021. We are only judging play that occurred before that date as well. Players are evaluated based on a combination of career history, current play, and potential. While most of the ranking is my opinion, numerous Polish hockey people contributed their thoughts on players. Ninety-five players were considered for the list and reviewed, and fifty players received a ranking. Players 50-31 will be revealed at the end of the series in the breakdown article. Only the top 30 players receive a report.

Players 30-21Players 10-8
Players 20-16
Players 15-11

Rank – Player Name (Position), Age During Next Hockey Season, Team (Ranking in 2020, change in rankings)

7 – Julia Skręt (F), 16, Polonia Bytom, (Not Ranked) 

Skręt’s career continues to rise just like her ranking, which is the highest debut ranking this year. A strong performance with Janow in the PLHK B led to her joining the powerhouse that is Polonia Bytom. The talented young forward would record three goals and one assist in 15 games across the regular season and playoffs. She spent most of her time during the year in the juniors with UKS Zagłębie Sosnowiec at the Młodzik ŚZHL (U16) level. 

Her strong performance in Poland and potential led to the Tychy native going abroad and joining Södertälje SK in Sweden. They are one of the best women’s teams in Sweden’s second division. The same league where other Polish stars like Kamila Wieczorek, Olivia Tomczak, and Wiktoria Sikorska applied their trade. Skręt will be the youngest Polish skater to ever appear in the league. 

6 – Ida Talanda (RW), 18, Polonia Bytom, (13, +7) 

Talanda is Poland’s best-kept secret. While other players have received interest or made headlines due to going abroad, Talanda has stayed in Poland and flourished. The Krynica native has long been ready for senior hockey, waiting for that special breakout moment. I feel she definitely came close to that in 2021, being only one of two U18 players that played with Metropolis Katowice in the EWHL. There she played 14 games and recorded one assist. In Poland, she recorded a career-high of 18 points (12G-6A-18PTS) in 15 games for Polonia Bytom. Her regular-season 11 points were tenth among all skaters. 

Talanda Goal vs. Gdansk

5 – Iga Schramm (F), 19, Neuchâtel Hockey Academy Dames, (5, 0) 

Despite the COVID-19 year, Iga Schramm was still able to go abroad and play her first season outside Poland. She was a late addition to the roster of Swiss club Neuchâtel Hockey Academy Dames, who play in the top level of Swiss Hockey. The 18-year-old posted two assists in 21 games. While not eye-popping numbers, it is in line with what most other young players posted in the SWHL A. Her lone regular-season assist put her tied for 19th in points among U20 skaters. Neuchâtel Hockey Academy Dames finished second last in the league, scoring only 38 goals in 20 games. The lack of production is not surprising for a few reasons. Schramm is returning to Poland with Poznan and a great year of experience under her belt. 

4 – Zuzanna Baran (RW), 19, ZHK Sarisanka Presov, (4, 0)

Due to my choice to not punish players for lack of games during the COVID season, Zuzanna Baran’s ranking was just kinda frozen as she only played one game in Slovakia for the 2021 season. She did record a single assist in her lone game. 

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Womens Hockey

2020 Top 30 Women’s U20 Players. #6-4

While this is not the time when I initially wanted to start this list, as I was hoping to have the Women’s World Championships to help distinguish some players at the top of the list. The coronavirus outbreak has effectively canceled or postponed all tournaments for the year.

This really is a bummer for Polish hockey with the amount of young talent they have at their disposal. It definitely seemed liked Poland had a chance to earn promotion at this year’s senior world championship. Women’s hockey in Poland is vastly on the rise with more players each year and a quick ability to develop players that are able to compete outside of Poland in stronger leagues. The talent pool has evolved so quickly that we have doubled our list size from last year. There is still a tremendous amount of work to be done, but the future is bright. Today we continue our 2020 ranking of the top 30 U20 Women’s players in Poland.

A player has to be 20 or younger on March 13th, 2020. There is no minimum age to make the list. Players are judged based on a combination of career history, current play, and potential.

Players #30-20

Players #19-15

Players #14-10

Players #9-7

Rank – Player Name (Position), Age During Next Hockey Season, Team (Ranking in 2019, change in ranking)

#6 – Helena Grzybowska (G), 18, PTH Kozice Poznań, (Unranked)

Grzybowska took any chance she had to play this year and excelled in it. In this list I have raved about how strong Poland looked at the U18s on the defensive end, a major part of that was Helena Grzybowska. She finished the U18s with a .948 save percentage percent. She also faced the second-most shots at the entire tournament. It was an absolute star-making performance. She also had strong performances at the Olympic Hope tournament for Poland.

On the club side, she played twelve games between Popradské líšky, PTH Kozice Poznań, and Silesia Brackens. In the top Slovakia women’ league, she posted a .942 sv% in 7 games for Popradské líšky. This included three shutouts. In her three games with Poznań, she posted a .950 sv%, while facing at least 35 shots in each game. In two games for the Brackens, She posted a .893 sv%, which was second among Polish goalies and U18 goalies in the league. With Sass and Grzybowska in net, Poland is set for a long time.

#5 – Iga Schramm (F), 18, PTH Kozice Poznań (7, +2)

The forward that stood out to me the most at the U18s this year was Iga Schramm. She always seemed to around the puck and making a play while there. She posted four points (2-2-4) in five games, which was tied with Wiktoria Sikorska for the lead on team Poland. She also managed 21 shots in the tournament, her shot total was second on team Poland. She also had a solid showing at the Olympic Hopes tournament, scoring vs Hungary.

In her club season with Poznań, she posted 19 points (12-7-19) in 12 games. This ranked fourteenth in the league and number one overall on Poznań. Schramm already made her senior IIHF debut last year, recording zero points in five games. I was really excited to see how she would have fared at the Worlds this year.

#4 – Zuzanna Baran (RW), 18, Šarišanka Prešov, (4, 0)

Baran didn’t really have a strong appearance at the U18s. She recorded zero points and registered 11 shots, but Poland’s offense as a whole struggled at the tournament. She is ranked fourth once again thanks to her excellent season in Slovakia. In the Slovak top women’s league, Baran posted 34 points (13-21-34) in 22 games. Her point total ties her for eleventh overall in the league, third among players under 20, and first among players under 18.

Her situational point break down was very impressive as well with 85.3% of her points coming at even strength, 8.8% on the powerplay, and 5.9% shorthanded. Seeing a player do so well offensively without a majority of those points coming in five on five hockey is a great sign about their potential. This was also an 11 point increase from last season when she had 23 points. Baran has a very bright future and should be a valuable part of Poland’s top 6.

Player #3

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Womens Hockey

Top 15 Female U20 Polish Players. Part 2: 5 and 4

To see players 15-6 click here.

5. Wiktoria Gogoc

Gogoc has been considered one of Poland’s best defensemen for a long time now. Despite being only 18-years-old, she has already represented Poland on the senior level four different times. She was named the captain of Poland’s u18 team in 2017-18. She plays a two-way game and has the ability to rush the puck.

giphy

Gogoc was able to thrive early in her career against tough competition. From 2015-2017, she played in the top Slovakian’s women league. In 40 games, she recorded 14 goals and 21 assists. In 2017-18 she would return to the PLHK with Naprzod Janow. In her first season back in the PLHK she had 7 points (3G, 4A) in 22 games. Gogoc also played 6 games and scored 1 goal at the Men’s u16 level. For this season, she moved to Polonia Bytom. In Bytom she won the PLHK championship this year, contributing 3 points (2G, 1A) in 4 playoff games. She had 2 assist in 7 regular season games. Her production decreases in the PLHK are a bit concerning.

These PLHK trends add to more concern after her performance at last year’s World Championships. In 207-18, she failed to record a single shot in 5 games, along with being heavily overmatched by the competition at times. I don’t want to judge her performance at his year’s worlds too much due to the fact that there was no way to view the event outside of actually being in China. Gogoc was on the lone defensive pairing, with Natalia Kaminska, that had a negative goal differential. She also scored a powerplay goal at the tournament for Poland.

Gogoc still remains of Poland’s top choices on defense. Her game should still continue to improve and as more strong offesnive players join into the line up making her skill set more useful.

4. Zuzanna Baran

Baran slots in at number four after a very strong U18 championship that saw her finish second on the team in points with 4 (1G, 3A). She was also put in a leadership position with being named an assistant captain.

Baran’s made her PLHK team debut in 2016-17 with KS Cracovia 1906, scoring 3 goals in 4 games. Her season was mostly spent with MKHL Krynica in the Slovakian league. In Slovakia, she had 6 points (1G, 5A) in 19 games. She would have a similar situation in the 2017-18 season. She only played one game in the PLHK, spending most of her time in Slovakia again with Krynica. She increased her production by a lot, scoring 8 goals and putting up 2 assist in 18 games. MKHL Krynica would not compete in the Slovakian league for 2018-19. Baran had shown enough in her time to earn a spot with one of the top clubs in the Slovakian league.

Baran, with Ida Talanda, are the lone Polish players to play in the Slovakia women’s league for a club other than Popradské líšky. The 16-year-old suited up for Sarisanka Prešov this season. She had 23 points (14G, 9A) in 20 games, this was good for 13th in the league. It was the 4th most by any player under 18. Baran is part of the strong emerging core of superb offensive skilled players. She has already proven her abilities in the Slovakian league and I hope to see her take on more challenges in the future.

 

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