MKS Cracovia - GKS Tychy (5-4)

Polska Hokej Liga
Lodowisko im. Adama Kowalskiego
November 4. 2018

Well, I have to admit, I miss hockey. As a sport, it's still my favourite. I'm very disappointed by the modern-day NHL and though I had my reservations about hockey in Canada and, in Toronto, specifically, you don't have to dig deep to find it there. That's not the case in Poland. 

Growing up, Poland was never among participants in the world
championships and even up until now there are only 3 Polish players I know: Mariusz Czerkawski (I even saw him live during his brief career as a Maple Leaf), Krzysztof Oliwa and Wojtek Wolski (born in Poland but played for Canada). Hockey is only regionally popular in the country (Volleyball and Speedway are definitely more popular). Thankfully most of the teams are centered around Krakow with MKS Krakowia as one of the best and most decorated teams in Poland. Naturally, I had to go and catch their game.

Krakowia has their own arena that I instantly loved. A small and very gritty-looking barn nestled right among the apartment buildings. It is named after Adam Kowalski - a prominent Polish athlete of the 30s and 40s, who was most famous for his hockey career. The arena can only host about 2500 people and is located on the border of Kazemierz, very close to the jewish cemetary and not far from Krakow's old town. To me, the whole setting is simply gorgeous. You can really feel that Hockey Cracovia is a neighborhood club. It is so much different from hockey in Canada. I took some pictures during the day and was back for the game itself in the evening,a taking a walk through Kazemierz and passing through
a brick railway underpass.

Tonight's game was against GKS Tychy. As far as I can understand and navigate through complicated Polish fans' relations, Krakovia and Tychy are friends in football. GKS even had a dozen or so away fans who were quite loud. GKS is a very big team and a local rival. Also, the only player I could recognize for both teams was Ukraine's Andrei Mikhnov who is mostly famous because his brother played for russia, while Andrei represented Ukraine.
Inside the arena you could find stalls with sausages and beer, hot drinks etc. I got myself a pricy magnet with Cracovia logo as a souvenir. There were a lot of posters about the history of hockey in Poland inside the arena. The rink also has a caged outside area for smoking fans.

I'm writing this well after the match and a lot of details are now very vague. But I loved it so much. I was completely taken by the game and this never happened in Canada. Yes, you could argue that the level of hockey is not that good, but it does not matter. If you want good hockey, then watch NHL on TV. This is a completely different experience. The arena was not that full but everybody was involved in the game. I saw a few of Cracovia fans who were obviously football hooligans (one of them has a fresh black-eye) and there were several ultras dressed in hockey gear. Around a thousand people were noisier than 18 thousands in any NHL arena. And what a game it was! End-to-end hockey with lots of goals. Cracovia was trailing and all the fans stood up, getting behind the team, constantly singing and chanting. They equalized with just several seconds to go, sending the game into overtime. Turns out they play a combination OT in Poland, starting 4-on-4 and then 3-on-3 in the second half. No goals there and we saw a penalty shootout where Cracovia finally won. I was ecstatic with the rest of the fans and stayed long enough to clap for the team
who clearly deserved it. And the team did just the same for the well-deserving fans. I loved it. I will definitely be back. And I'd love to see hockey in other cities now.