The Polish national team after winning promotion at Nattingham. photo. IIHF
The IA Division World Hockey Championships ended in Nottingham, and the Poles took second place and returned to the top flight after more than twenty years. The tournament’s best striker was Krystian Dziubiński, captain of the Poles, who scored 6 goals and provided 5 assists.
Slovak coach Robert Kalaber’s players began their march to triumph with a 7-0 victory over Lithuania, in the next clash they narrowly lost to Great Britain 4-5 after extra time and then beat the Italy 4-2, South Korea 7-0 and finally Romania 6-2, although in that decisive encounter after the first half they unexpectedly lost 0:1.
FINAL TABLE
1. Great Britain 5 14 24-7
2. POLAND 5 13 28-8
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3. Italy 5 9 23-16
4. South Korea 5 6 8-20
5. Romania 5 3 9-26
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6. Lithuania 5 0 7-21
– I am very happy that we are no longer perceived as the Africa of hockey and that the white and red flag is respected in the hockey environment – said Polish coach Robert Kalaber, who is the coach of our team since June 2020. – This team was formed over a period of time, the return of players such as Grzegorz Pasiut and Marcin Kolusz had a great impact on the development of the team. Before leaving for Nottingham, I had a very difficult choice, unfortunately I had to give up some players. Team spirit was very important. Players knew what they wanted and how they wanted to achieve it. I am very happy with our success, but it took a lot of hard work. We formed a team that achieved the goal. I’m proud of these guys. We have very good players, young people who can successfully play in strong European leagues. This is my biggest success in my coaching career. I am a happy person because I do what I love. I have a feeling that next year we will play against my compatriots, Slovakia, in the World Cup. I think we will play in Ostrava, near the Polish border. I dream of singing the Polish anthem at least once in Ostrava…
This year’s Elite matches, without the White and Red team, will start this Friday in Finland and Latvia and will be broadcast on TVP Sport. In 2024, the best hockey teams in the world, led by Canada, the United States, Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic, will play in Ostrava and Prague against the Poles! (pass)
