The fans applaud them, but the Poles say goodbye to the elite division of the World Championship. Will they have the next generation ready?

One day before the end of the World Hockey Championships in Prague and Ostrava, we have the first closed chapters. And in a way that for some time definitively. On Monday, the Polish and British national teams played their last match at this year’s championship. They had to win, but they didn’t get their main mission done.

Hockey has great victories and bitter defeats. The world championship wrote the first episodes on Monday, after which the Great Britain and Poland hockey players left with their heads down. The highest possible level of this game showed once again how big the difference is between the elite teams and the second, or third, tier teams.

The competition at the bottom rungs has increased after the players of Russia and Belarus were indefinitely excluded from IIHF events. Teams that were steadily in the elite division were replaced by teams from Division IA. The difference in quality is unfortunately noticeable.

The Poles fought hard but did not impress

The big newcomers at this year’s championship were the Polish hockey players, who made their first appearance in the elite division of the World Championship in 22 years. However, their participation among the elite is quickly coming to an end. However, it is definitely not possible to say that the Poles made a disgrace in the Czech Republic. They played the championship superbly, stealing a point from the defending bronze medalists from Latvia.

It looked like they would not play second fiddle in the elite division as most hockey fans feared. Poland really left a nice impression in Ostrava, although the single point against the Latvians remained the only one in the whole tournament.

But what may warm the Polish hockey players’ hearts, they did not downright lose to either team. Not that they would have had any hopes of scoring against the Swedes or the USA, but the results of 1:4 or 1:5 don’t look so scary to the eye. For example, the American hockey team gave Kazakhstan ten chunks. The Poles avoided these embarrassing defeats at the World Championship.

POLAND AT THE 2024 WORLD CUP

Kazakhstan showed more experience

However, in key battles with paper-weaker opponents, the difference between the elite division and Division IA proved to be truly noticeable. This was also evident in the last match against Kazakhstan, which the Poles lost 1: 3. The Kazakhs showed, above all, a richer experience from these duels.

The Poles were leading 1:0 in the first period, but the weight of the moment finally broke their neck. Despite the fact that they had the oldest and therefore, one could say, quite experienced squad, this was really something completely different, something that almost two whole generations of Polish hockey players have not experienced.

So the Polish national team ends with their heads held high, and they are getting mostly positive feedback from their fans. However, they were unable to see their dream through. Next year, a large part of this old team will probably still try to fight for a return to the elite division and maybe pave the way for the younger generation.

Source: World Cup of Hockey 2024