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Poland men's national ice hockey team

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Poland
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Orły (The Eagles)
AssociationPolish Ice Hockey Federation
General managerLeszek Laszkiewicz
Head coachRóbert Kaláber
AssistantsMarek Batkiewicz
Grzegorz Klich
CaptainKrystian Dziubiński
Most gamesHenryk Gruth (248)
Top scorerWiesław Jobczyk (88)
Most pointsMarcin Kolusz (151)
Team colors   
IIHF codePOL
Ranking
Current IIHF21 Increase 1 (27 May 2024)[1]
Highest IIHF19 (2003)
Lowest IIHF25 (2014)
First international
Austria  13–1  Poland
(Davos, Switzerland; 10 January 1926)
Biggest win
Poland  21–1  China
(Eindhoven, Netherlands; 26 March 1993)
Biggest defeat
Soviet Union  20–0  Poland
(Moscow, Soviet Union; 11 April 1973)
IIHF World Championships
Appearances60 (first in 1930)
Best result4th (1931, 1932)
IIHF European Championships
Appearances3 (first in 1926)
Best resultSilver (1929)
Olympics
Appearances13 (first in 1928)
International record (W–L–T)
515–562–91

The Poland national men's ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team of Poland, and a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. They are ranked 21st in the world in the IIHF World Rankings, but prior to the 1980s they were ranked as high as 6th internationally. They are one of eight countries never to have played below the Division I (former B Pool) level. As of 2024 the Polish national team plays at the top level of the World Championship.

Poland has competed in the Olympics thirteen times, most recently in 1992, with their best result being fourth place in 1932. They have been a regular participant of the World Championship, first appearing in 1930 and having appeared in all but one tournament since 1955. They frequently played in the top division, though were in Division I after being relegated in 2002. Poland made a return to the top division of the World Championship for 2024.

History

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Poland at the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland, their first appearance at the Winter Olympics. They finished ninth.

Poland was a regular participant of the early Winter Olympics, first competing at the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland, where they finished ninth out of eleven teams. They would appear at ever Winter Olympics until 1956, with their best finish being fourth in 1932.

Financed by state coal money from the 1950s to the 1970s the Polish hockey team was a regular at the top level upsetting the Swedes, Finns, and Czechoslovaks from time to time. They hosted the World Championship for the only time in 1976, with the matches taking place in Katowice. At this tournament Poland defeated the Soviet Union 6–4 in their opening match, the first time Poland ever won against the Soviets and what is regarded as one of the greatest upsets in international hockey history. While Poland finished seventh and was relegated for the following year, their victory against the USSR helped prevent them from winning gold for only the second time in 13 years.[2]

The national team in 2006.

In the Olympics earlier that year, Poland played 5 matches in the top division, but lost all of them. In the first game, the team managed four goals on the West Germany but it was not enough as they lost 7–4. Four days later, after being destroyed by the Soviet Union, the Poles took on Czechoslovakia who dominated the whole game throughout and won 7–1, but after the drug testing, the officials found that one of the Czech players tested positive for doping and they awarded Poland with a 1–0 victory, although they didn't receive any points in the standings. With only two games left and no points in the standings, Poland had no shot at a medal, but still played the last two games against the United States and Finland, and lost 7–2 and 7–1 respectively.

Poland managed to clean up a bit over four years and played well during the 1980 Olympics and finished seventh out of twelve teams. They managed to pull off a huge upset in their first game by beating Finland 5–4, who would eventually advance to the medal round. In their next game, they played Canada and hoped to complete an even bigger upset. The Canadians didn't let this happen and beat the Poles 5–1. In the third game, Poland took on the five time gold medalists, the Soviet Union. The players knew that this would be a challenge because they had played the Soviets many times before and had lost by usually very lopsided scores, such as 8–3, 9–3, 16–1, and 20–0. The Polish team, however, had also beaten the Soviets once in the 1976 World Championship and some of the players from that game were still on the team. The team tried to keep the Soviets down, but it was too much and the USSR stormed to an 8–1 win.

Poland at the 2017 World Championship Division IA tournament in Ukraine. They finished fourth.

With their toughest games out of the way, Poland would have one more chance to try to get to the Medal Round. They took on the Netherlands and went down early in the first period but managed to tie it about four minutes later. The Dutch team scored twice more in the period to lead 3–1. Polish hero Wieslaw Jobczyk (who scored a hat trick in the 1976 upset against USSR) scored to put Poland within one goal but the Netherlands stormed back to get two more goals before the third period to make it 5–2. The Poles ended up losing 5–3 and saw their hopes for the medal round come to an end. They had one more game against Japan, who had not won any games in the tournament and only tied once. Poland burst out in the first period and scored 3 goals before twenty minutes had ended. They scored two more goals and Japan seemed out of it. The final score was 5–1 for Poland. The team's final record was 2–3–0 and it received 4 points in the standings.

When Communist rule ended in 1989, the Polish national team began a slow decline in international play. They reached the Olympics in 1992, the most recent time they have played there, and finished eleventh out of twelve teams. During the 1990s the first two Polish-born and trained players were selected in the NHL Entry Draft: Mariusz Czerkawski was selected in the 1991 by the Boston Bruins, and Krzysztof Oliwa in 1993 by the New Jersey Devils; Oliwa won the Stanley Cup with the Devils in 2000, the first and only Pole to do so.

Poland last competed at the Elite level in 2002 World Championship, where they finished fourteenth and were relegated. They then remained in Division I until they were relegated to Division IB in 2018, the lowest they had ever played at. The White Eagles finally returned to the elite level after finishing runner-up in group A in 2023. They will play in the 2024 IIHF World Championship in Group B.

Tournament record

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Olympic Games

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Games GP W OW T OL L GF GA Coach Captain Finish Rank
Switzerland 1928 St. Moritz 2 0 0 1 0 1 4 5 ? Tadeusz Adamowski First round 9th
United States 1932 Lake Placid 6 0 0 0 0 6 3 34 Tadeusz Sachs ? First round 4th
Nazi Germany 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen 3 1 0 0 0 2 11 12 Aleksander Tupalski, Lucjan Kulej ? First round 9th
Switzerland 1948 St. Moritz 8 2 0 0 0 6 29 97 Zbigniew Kasprzak ? Round-robin 6th (7th)
Norway 1952 Oslo 8 2 0 1 0 5 21 56 Mieczysław Kasprzycki ? Round-robin 6th
Italy 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo 5 2 0 0 0 3 15 22 Mieczysław Palus, Wladyslaw Wiro-Kiro Józef Kurek Consolation round 8th
United States 1960 Squaw Valley did not participate
Austria 1964 Innsbruck 8 6 0 0 0 2 41 15 Gary Hughes Józef Kurek Consolation round 9th
France 1968 Grenoble did not participate
Japan 1972 Sapporo 6 1 0 0 0 5 13 39 Anatoli Yegorov, Mieczysław Chmura Ludwik Czachowski Final Round 6th
Austria 1976 Innsbruck 6 2 0 0 0 4 16 41 Józef Kurek Robert Góralczyk Final Round 6th
United States 1980 Lake Placid 5 2 0 0 0 3 15 23 Czeslaw Borowicz Stefan Chowaniec First round 7th
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1984 Sarajevo 6 1 0 0 0 5 20 44 Emil Nikodemowicz Henryk Gruth 7th place game 8th
Canada 1988 Calgary 6 1 0 1 0 4 12 15 Leszek Lejczyk, Jerzy Mruk Henryk Gruth 9th place game 10th
France 1992 Albertville 9 2 0 0 0 5 25 47 Leszek Lejczyk, Jerzy Mruk Henryk Gruth 11th place match 11th
Norway 1994 Lillehammer did not qualify
Japan 1998 Nagano
United States 2002 Salt Lake City
Italy 2006 Turin
Canada 2010 Vancouver
Russia 2014 Sochi
South Korea 2018 Pyeongchang
China 2022 Beijing
Italy 2026 Milan–Cortina Future event

World Championship

[edit]
  • 1930 – 5th place
  • 1931 – 4th place
  • 1933 – 7th place
  • 1935 – 10th place
  • 1937 – 8th place
  • 1938 – 7th place
  • 1939 – 6th place
  • 1947 – 6th place
  • 1955 – 7th place
  • 1957 – 6th place
  • 1958 – 8th place
  • 1959 – 11th place
  • 1961 – 13th place (5th in Pool B)
  • 1963 – 12th place (4th in Pool B)
  • 1965 – 9th place (1st in Pool B)
  • 1966 – 8th place
  • 1967 – 9th place (1st in Pool B)
  • 1969 – 8th place (2nd in Pool B)
  • 1970 – 6th place
  • 1971 – 8th place (2nd in Pool B)
  • 1972 – 7th place (1st in Pool B)
  • 1973 – 5th place
  • 1974 – 5th place
  • 1975 – 5th place
  • 1976 – 7th place
  • 1977 – 10th place (2nd in Pool B)
  • 1978 – 9th place (1st in Pool B)
  • 1979 – 8th place
  • 1981 – 10th place (2nd in Pool B)
  • 1982 – 11th place (3rd in Pool B)
  • 1983 – 10th place (2nd in Pool B)
  • 1985 – 9th place (1st in Pool B)
  • 1986 – 8th place
  • 1987 – 9th place (1st in Pool B)
  • 1989 – 8th place
  • 1990 – 14th place (6th in Pool B)
  • 1991 – 12th place (4th in Pool B)
  • 1992 – 12th place
  • 1993 – 14th place (2nd in Pool B)
  • 1994 – 15th place (3rd in Pool B)
  • 1995 – 15th place (3rd in Pool B)
  • 1996 – 17th place (5th in Pool B)
  • 1997 – 17th place (5th in Pool B)
  • 1998 – 23rd place (7th in Pool B)
  • 1999 – 23rd place (7th in Pool B)
  • 2000 – 20th place (4th in Pool B)
  • 2001 – 18th place (1st in Division I, Group A)
  • 2002 – 14th place
  • 2003 – 19th place (2nd in Division I, Group A)
  • 2004 – 21st place (3rd in Division I, Group B)
  • 2005 – 19th place (2nd in Division I, Group A)
  • 2006 – 21st place (3rd in Division I, Group B)
  • 2007 – 20th place (2nd in Division I, Group A)
  • 2008 – 22nd place (3rd in Division I, Group A)
  • 2009 – 23rd place (4th in Division I, Group B)
  • 2010 – 22nd place (3rd in Division I, Group B)
  • 2011 – 23rd place (4th in Division I, Group B)
  • 2012 – 24th place (2nd in Division I, Group B)
  • 2013 – 24th place (2nd in Division I, Group B)
  • 2014 – 23rd place (1st in Division I, Group B)
  • 2015 – 19th place (3rd in Division I, Group A)
  • 2016 – 19th place (3rd in Division I, Group A)
  • 2017 – 20th place (4th in Division I, Group A)
  • 2018 – 22nd place (6th in Division I, Group A)
  • 2019 – 24th place (2nd in Division I, Group B)
  • 2020 – Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[3]
  • 2021 – Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[4]
  • 2022 – 21st place (1st in Division I, Group B)
  • 2023 – 18th place (2nd in Division I, Group A)
  • 2024 – 16th place
  • 2025 – (Division I, Group A)

European Championships

[edit]
Games GP W T L GF GA Coach Captain Finish Rank
1910–1925 did not participate.
Switzerland 1926 Davos 5 3 0 2 12 7 ? ? Consolation round 6–7 place game 6th
Austria 1927 Wien 5 1 2 2 11 9 ? ? Round-robin 4th
Hungary 1929 Budapest 3 2 0 1 6 3 ? ? Final 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Germany 1932 Berlin did not participate.

Team

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Current roster

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Roster for the 2024 IIHF World Championship.[5][6]

Head coach: Róbert Kaláber

No. Pos. Name Height Weight Birthdate Team
3 D Bartosz Ciura 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) 90 kg (200 lb) (1992-11-20) 20 November 1992 (age 31) Poland GKS Tychy
4 D Patryk Wajda 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) 83 kg (183 lb) (1988-05-20) 20 May 1988 (age 36) Poland JKH GKS Jastrzębie
5 F Filip Komorski 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 86 kg (190 lb) (1991-12-27) 27 December 1991 (age 32) Poland GKS Tychy
6 D Arkadiusz Kostek 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) 84 kg (185 lb) (1994-06-16) 16 June 1994 (age 30) Poland JKH GKS Jastrzębie
10 F Bartosz Fraszko 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) 82 kg (181 lb) (1995-10-26) 26 October 1995 (age 29) Poland GKS Katowice
12 D Maciej Kruczek 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) 90 kg (200 lb) (1988-01-26) 26 January 1988 (age 36) Poland GKS Katowice
14 F Dominik Paś 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) 67 kg (148 lb) (1999-09-21) 21 September 1999 (age 25) Poland JKH GKS Jastrzębie
15 F Patryk Wronka 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) 77 kg (170 lb) (1995-08-28) 28 August 1995 (age 29) Poland Podhale Nowy Targ
16 F Paweł Zygmunt 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 96 kg (212 lb) (1999-11-19) 19 November 1999 (age 24) Czech Republic HC Litvínov
17 D Kamil Górny 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) 88 kg (194 lb) (1989-09-20) 20 September 1989 (age 35) Poland JKH GKS Jastrzębie
18 F Grzegorz PasiutA 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 92 kg (203 lb) (1987-05-07) 7 May 1987 (age 37) Poland GKS Katowice
20 D Marcin KoluszA 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) 87 kg (192 lb) (1985-01-18) 18 January 1985 (age 39) Poland JKH GKS Jastrzębie
21 F Kamil Wałęga 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 80 kg (180 lb) (2000-07-21) 21 July 2000 (age 24) Czech Republic HC Oceláři Třinec
28 F Mateusz Michalski 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) 90 kg (200 lb) (1992-07-29) 29 July 1992 (age 32) Poland GKS Katowice
31 G John Murray 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 99 kg (218 lb) (1987-07-04) 4 July 1987 (age 37) Poland GKS Katowice
33 G Tomáš Fučík 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) 90 kg (200 lb) (1994-03-17) 17 March 1994 (age 30) Poland GKS Tychy
34 F Krzysztof Maciaś 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) 86 kg (190 lb) (2004-05-14) 14 May 2004 (age 20) Canada Prince Albert Raiders
51 D Jakub Wanacki 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 93 kg (205 lb) (1991-03-12) 12 March 1991 (age 33) Poland GKS Katowice
61 F Krystian DziubińskiC 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) 86 kg (190 lb) (1988-05-28) 28 May 1988 (age 36) Poland TH Unia Oświęcim
69 D Mateusz Bryk 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) 89 kg (196 lb) (1989-08-24) 24 August 1989 (age 35) Poland GKS Tychy
71 D Paweł Dronia 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) 90 kg (200 lb) (1989-06-30) 30 June 1989 (age 35) Germany Ravensburg Towerstars
72 G David Zabolotny 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 75 kg (165 lb) (1994-03-31) 31 March 1994 (age 30) Germany EHC Freiburg
80 D Kacper Maciaś 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) 92 kg (203 lb) (2003-04-12) 12 April 2003 (age 21) Poland GKS Katowice
88 F Alan Łyszczarczyk 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 83 kg (183 lb) (1998-02-17) 17 February 1998 (age 26) Poland GKS Tychy
92 F Maciej Urbanowicz 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) 87 kg (192 lb) (1986-07-12) 12 July 1986 (age 38) Poland JKH GKS Jastrzębie
98 F Patryk Krężołek 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 80 kg (180 lb) (1998-09-14) 14 September 1998 (age 26) Poland KH Zagłębie Sosnowiec

Former Players In NHL

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Players who have played in the NHL and the Polish national team

Year Name Position Team
1993–2006 Mariusz Czerkawski RW Boston Bruins
Edmonton Oilers
New York Islanders
Montreal Canadiens
Toronto Maple Leafs
1996–2006 Krzysztof Oliwa LW New Jersey Devils
Columbus Blue Jackets
Pittsburgh Penguins
New York Rangers
Boston Bruins
Calgary Flames
2015–2016 Mike Danton C New Jersey Devils
St. Louis Blues

NHL Entry Draft

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Polish players selected in the NHL Entry Draft

Year Name Overall Team
1981 Peter Sidorkiewicz 91st overall Washington Capitals
1991 Mariusz Czerkawski 106th overall Boston Bruins
1993 Krzysztof Oliwa 65th overall New Jersey Devils
1995 David Lemanowicz 218th overall Florida Panthers
1993 Patryk Pysz 102nd overall Chicago Blackhawks
1998 Tomek Valtonen 56th overall Detroit Red Wings
2000 Krys Kolanos 19th overall Phoenix Coyotes
2000 Stefan Liv 102nd overall Detroit Red Wings
2000 Mike Danton 135th overall New Jersey Devils
2003 Marcin Kolusz 157th overall Minnesota Wild
2004 Wojtek Wolski 21st overall Colorado Avalanche
2004 Evan McGrath 128th overall Detroit Red Wings
2004 Jan Steber 252nd overall Toronto Maple Leafs
2006 Nick Sucharski 136th overall Columbus Blue Jackets
2009 Michael Cichy 199th overall Montreal Canadiens
2022 Maksymilian Szuber 163rd overall Arizona Coyotes

Notable National team players

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Other Polish-born NHL players

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Head-to-head records

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Updated as of 20 May 2024.[7] Defunct national teams are listed in italics.

Opponent Played Won Drawn Lost GF GA GD
 Australia 1 1 0 0 5 3 +2
 Austria 60 26 3 31 183 181 +2
 Belarus 17 4 0 13 38 77 +39
 Belgium 5 4 1 0 29 6 +23
 Bulgaria 2 2 0 0 27 2 +25
 Canada 25 0 1 24 22 175 -153
 China 6 6 0 0 79 11 +68
 Croatia 5 5 0 0 33 4 +29
 Czech Republic 1 0 1 0 2 2 0
 Czechoslovakia 44 2 2 40 58 336 -278
 Denmark 32 18 3 11 134 102 +32
 East Germany 71 35 13 23 302 234 +68
 Estonia 20 18 1 1 99 36 +63
 Finland 52 5 8 39 107 264 −157
 France 54 21 6 27 146 154 -8
 Germany 54 16 7 31 161 192 -31
 Great Britain 38 10 2 26 113 133 -20
 Hungary 67 36 6 25 210 146 +64
 Italy 57 32 4 21 187 140 +47
 Japan 42 34 2 6 214 98 +116
 Kazakhstan 22 2 1 19 43 84 -41
 Latvia 21 5 0 16 50 72 -22
 Lithuania 22 18 0 4 126 47 +79
 Netherlands 40 35 2 3 209 85 +124
 Norway 77 39 7 31 316 243 +73
 Romania 62 50 5 7 390 106 +284
 Serbia 1 1 0 0 10 2 +8
 Serbia and Montenegro 1 1 0 0 13 2 +11
 Slovakia 9 0 1 8 12 51 −39
 Slovenia 27 8 0 19 57 77 -20
 South Korea 15 10 0 5 59 32 +27
 Soviet Union 33 1 0 32 43 321 -278
 Spain 2 2 0 0 9 1 +8
 Sweden 37 5 4 28 62 232 −170
  Switzerland 46 20 6 20 159 165 -6
 Ukraine 43 18 2 23 115 132 -17
 United States 36 6 2 28 43 191 −148
 Yugoslavia 21 19 1 1 139 53 +86
Total 1 168 515 91 562 4 004 4 192 -188

References

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  1. ^ "IIHF Men's World Ranking". IIHF. 27 May 2024. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  2. ^ IIHF (2008). "Poland scores biggest shocker in World Championship history". IIHF.com. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  3. ^ "IIHF cancels Division I tournaments". iihf.com. 17 March 2019.
  4. ^ "IIHF – IIHF Council announces more cancellations". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  5. ^ "Polacy przegrali z Danią. Trener wybrał kadrę na MŚ elity". polskihokej.eu (in Polish). 7 May 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  6. ^ "Team roster: Poland" (PDF). iihf.com. 10 May 2024.
  7. ^ "Poland - National Teams of Ice Hockey". nationalteamsoficehockey.com. 7 August 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
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