The exclusion of Russia and Belarus from the world elite mathematically releases two additional places in the world elite, at least for a few years. A positive collateral effect could therefore be the opportunity for new nations to gain access to an elite that refused them. And when we say that, all eyes are bound to turn to Poland. And not only because this country is (along with the Baltics) the most suspicious of Russian expansionism, for obvious historical reasons, and therefore Ukraine’s main support to help it recover its territories conquered and to welcome refugee families.
In ice hockey, the last accession of Poland to the elite dates back to 2001 it was in Grenoble in a South Pole ice rink that still smelled of fresh paint. She came back the following year. For twenty years, the Poles have been vegetating in the lower divisions. They came close enough to find the elite in 2015, in a decisive match in Krakow against Hungary, then in 2016, preceded in the particular confrontation by Italy, their pet peeve. But the rest of the time, they mostly went up the elevator with the IB division, one more floor down.
This year in Nottingham, Poland first proved their worth in overtime against hosts Great Britain (3-4). She feared that cursed goal from Ben Lake at 4 against 3 (Polish goalkeeper John Murray had been penalized for tripping in extra time) could still be fatal. Having lost, the Poles had to beat the other major opponent, Italy. A team they hadn’t beaten anymore… since 2002their last year in the elite, for nothing since the two countries were relegated by the protection enjoyed by Japan.
The stands have chosen their camp: there are a thousand Poles against a few dozen Italians. The players in white feel pushed and keep the game in the offensive zone for the first two minutes, already a strong signal. After five minutes of play, Radosław Galant comes to press Gregorio Gios against the railing to take the puck from him and pass it to Michalski who resumes his momentum and deceives Justin Fazio (0-1). But the equalizer comes a minute later. Daniel Mantenuto wins an engagement in the offensive zone for a powerful throw from Alex Trivellato at the blue line (1-1). The game remains balanced until the siren sounds. Tommaso Traversa then has an altercation with Fraszko… and is expelled from the match for a whim after the referees call for the video!
The five minutes of Italian numerical inferiority are sanctioned by the average price, one goal. After a face-off won by Grzegorz Pasiut on the right side, Patryk Wronka serves in front of the cage Krystian Dziubinski who concludes closely. Maus once back in full, the Azzurri equalize during a delayed penalty. Angelo Miceli overflows on the left wing and serves Peter Spornberger who immediately hands over to Daniel Tedesco in the slot. Italy resumed the ascendancy in numerical advantage (Polish overnumber) and continued their forechecking at 5 against 5. the Poles tired away from their bench… but scored against the run of play. Alan Łyszczarczyk struggled behind the Italian goal and forced Spornberger to make a mistake under pressure. He gives the puck to Krystian Dziubinski, whose shot is deflected by the skate of Bartłomiej Jeziorski (2-3).
Italy give everything to come back, which leaves chances to Arkadiusz Kostek or Patryk Wronka alone in counter-attack. Even during a Łyszczarczyk (tripping) penalty ten minutes from time, Mike Keenan’s men couldn’t find the solution. On the contrary, an identical fault by Dante Hannoun is exploited in the last seconds of the powerplay. Krystian Dziubiński attracts the goalkeepers and the defense and serves Patryk Wronka who relays to Grzegorz Pasiut with the open cage (2-4).
Named players of the match: Bartosz Ciura for Poland and Daniel Tedesco for Italy.
This historic success awaited for more than twenty years has unfortunately been overshadowed by the competition of the Polish Cup final. This not very big show (0-0, shots on goal and three red cards) gathered 1.1 million Polish viewers, against 80,000 (0.86% market share) for the national ice hockey team. . Sport-king crushes everything.
With 4 points out of 6 possible against their two main rivals, the Polish hockey players have set themselves on a royal road to climb into the world elite, to be confirmed by not missing out against South Korea and Romania. The Italians will surely have to beat the British in regulation time on Friday evening to climb too…
Post-match comments :
Grzegorz Pasiut (Poland striker): “It doesn’t matter how many years we haven’t won against them. What mattered was the match of the day, and in that moment it became history. We won, we did the right thing and we are focused on the next game. They will be completely different encounters. We will play more with the puck, we will create the game more.
Róbert Kaláber (Poland coach): “The guys fought, the emotions were there. A little nervous at the end, but that’s what we were playing for. We were leading by one goal, we prioritized defense and added a goal that served as a safety net if something happened late in the game. There will be no victory celebration, recovery begins immediately. Guys need to eat right and engage in biological regeneration under the supervision of physios. We have two tough games ahead of us. We have less time to recover than South Korea. They skate very well, they have a good technical background. They have no experience and they are young, but they will give us difficult conditions. »
PS: Poland beat South Korea 7-0 and has a skate and a half at the 2024 World Cup in Prague.
Italy – Poland 2-4 (1-1, 1-2, 0-1)
Tuesday May 2, 2023 at 4:00 p.m. at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham. 1318 spectators.
Arbitration by Roy Hansen (NOR) and Milan Zrnic (SLO) assisted by Norbert Muzsik (HON) and Gasper Jaka Zgonc (SLO).
Penalties: Italy 29′ (5’+20′, 2′, 2′); Poland 8′ (0′, 6′, 2′).
Shots: Italy 31 (9, 11, 11); Poland 23 (10, 7, 6).
Score evolution:
0-1 at 05’23”: Michalski assisted by Galant
1-1 at 06:28: Trivellato assisted by Mantenuto
1-2 at 22’10”: Dziubiński assisted by Wronka and Pasiut (num. sup.)
2-2 at 26:34: Tedesco assisted by Spornberger and Miceli
2-3 at 37’06”: Jeziorski assisted by Dziubiński
2-4 at 56’53”: Pasiut assisted by Wronka and Kolusz (num. sup.)
Italy
Forwards:
Angelo Miceli (-1) – Alex Petan (A, +1) – Daniel Tedesco
Luca Frigo (+1) – Daniel Maintained (2′) – Marco Zanetti (+1)
Pascal Brunner – Dante Hannoun (2′) – Michele Marchetti
Ivan DeLuca (-1) – Tommaso Traversa (-1, 5’+20′) – Brandon McNally
Defenders:
Peter Spornberger – Thomas Larkin (C)
Alex Trivellato (A, +1) – Phil Pietroniro (+1)
Enrico Miglioranzi (-1) – Marco Insam
Daniel Glira – Gregorio Gios (-1)
Guardian :
Justin Fazio [sorti à 58’33]
Substitute: Damian Clara (G).
Poland (2′ for excess)
Forwards:
Patryk Wronka (2′) – Grzegorz Pasiut – Bartosz Fraszko
Krystian Dziubiński (-1) [puis Jeziorski] – Dominik Pas (-2) [puis Dziubiński] – Alan Łyszczarczyk (-1, 2′)
Bartlomiej Jeziorski (+1) [puis Paś] – Kamil Walęga – Pawel Zygmunt
Mateusz Michalski (+1) – Filip Starzyński (+1) – Radoslaw Galant (+1)
Defenders:
Maciej Kruczek – Patryk Wajda
Marcin Kolusz (A, -1) – Bazrtosz Ciura (2′)
Pawel Dronia (+1) – Arkadiusz Kostek
Kamil Górny – Oskar Jaskiewicz
Guardian :
John Murray
Remplaçant: Maciej Miarka (G).
#years #Grenoble #Poland #close #returning #top #flight #National #Teams #Ice #Hockey #Hockeyarchives
