We already know the unofficial groups for the 2024 Elite World Championship. A change is due to be made there, which means that our Ostrava group will include the United States, Germany, Sweden, Slovakia, Latvia, France, Kazakhstan and Poland.
“There are no easy opponents at this level. We are going there as newcomers and our objective will be to stay in the Elite. For us, it doesn’t matter if we play against the United States or Canada, because both teams are teams that base their composition on players playing in the NHL league. Either way, the Canadians won gold at those championships and the Americans finished fourth. There is no denying that it will be fun to face such a team. The Germans and Latvians finished this year’s championships on the podium, and the potential of the Swedes probably needs no introduction. I am very happy that we are playing against Slovakia, because this game will have an extra meaning for me because I have played in the local extra league under the colors of Liptowski Mikulas for the last two seasons – said Kamil Wałęga in an interview with Polsat Sport.
Paweł Zygmunt recently mentioned that he often comes across jokes from his colleagues in the locker room about where Poland are currently playing and they make fun of the fact that he probably played with Mexico. It was no different with Wałęga and his Slovak colleagues.
“They congratulated us on our promotion and finally could see that we could play hockey. Before, they laughed that we were playing Mexico because they didn’t really know what level we were playing. Anyway, two years ago we were playing in the third tier, so we were a bit of an exotic hockey country for them. Fortunately, everything has changed now.
From next season, the 22-year-old center will play for the Czech champions’ team, where he will replace Aron Chmielewski. It should be noted that he was not the only Pole in Třinec, because in the past Alan Łyszczarczyk, Filip Komorski and Bartosz Ciura performed there.
– I have contacted each of them and all of them have only confirmed my assumptions that this is a top notch club. I know I will fight for a place in the first team, but I am ready. I will probably also play in their farm team, which plays in the second division, but the same path has been traveled by everyone, including Aron. I will do my best to get into the first team. I know that Ocelari will also play in the Champions League, so it will also be an additional motivation for me to play in this competition – concluded HC striker Oceláři Třinec.
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