It was a summer to remember for Krzysztof Macias.
After a year that saw him become an impact player for the Prince Albert Raiders in the WHL by season’s end, the 20-year-old product of Nowy Targ, Poland got a chance to represent his country on the international stage at the 2024 IIHF World Championships in Ostrava, Czechia.
Macias says the tournament was the highlight of his hockey career to this point.
“It was unreal. It’s hard to find the words to describe it because one thing is you’re representing your country. That’s always like the biggest honor, but the other thing also is who you’re playing against. We’re playing against top players in the world so the experience was unbelievable. I think I learned a lot from that and I think it was the greatest time of my hockey career for sure so far and I’m hoping for more chances like that in the future.”
It was Poland’s first appearance at the top division of the World Championships in 22 years. In their opening game against Latvia, Macias wasted no time as he would score the first goal beating Latvian netminder Elvis Merzlikins with a sharp angle shot at the 15:29 mark of the first period.
Macias says he can still envision the cheers from the crowd and the Polish faithful.
“That was pretty special, and also the tournament was played on the rink that I grew up on. I played there for five years in Ostrava, in that city, in that rink, so that was pretty special. I knew my family’s in the stands and all the fans from Poland. That was pretty special, and the feeling of the roar from the crowd was completely wild, and I still can remember it until today, and I will remember it for the rest of my life.”
According to Polish Puck, the last time Poland had played in the Worlds prior to 2024 was a 5-2 win over Japan on May 5, 2002, more than two years before Macias was born.
Macias would strike again to give Poland the lead late in the second period. Poland would fall to the Latvians 5-4 in overtime and did not record a victory in the tournament.
Krzysztof wasn’t the only Macias skating for the Polish National Team. His older brother Kacper, who is a defenceman with GKS Katowice in Poland was added to the roster after an injury to Bartek Ciura early in the tournament.
Macias says he was happy to play with his brother on the world stage.
“I always love playing with my brother. I love supporting him. He’s a great guy. He’s a great hockey player and I was really happy when I found out. I didn’t want to it to happen that way, one of our defensemen got injured and he got called up. I was sad for the guy who got injured, but I was happy that my brother got the chance and I think he used it pretty well.”
After a strong performance in Prince Albert during the WHL campaign and at the World Championships, Macias had plenty of interest to play professional hockey in Europe.
In the WHL, it is rare to see a team carry a 20-year-old import player due to the fact they will occupy both an import and overage roster slot.
In 65 regular season games, Macias registered 22 goals and 25 assists with 40 penalty minutes and a plus-nine rating. In five playoff games, Macias scored one goal.
Macias says he decided to return to North America because he felt it was the best move for his career to play another year in the WHL.
“We had different goals, we came up with a different decision than to come back to Europe, because the chance was there obviously, there’s no doubt about it. We decided something else would be better for my career at that point, so we decided that we want to stay here in North America.”
The Raiders will be a different looking team this season compared to last. Prince Albert added Seattle Kraken prospect and offensive defenceman Lukas Dragicevic in a deal with the Tri-City Americans. They also landed St. Louis Blues prospect Tomas Mrsic from the Medicine Hat Tigers in a blockbuster deal that sent Ryder Ritchie to the Gas City.
Prince Albert also has several 2008-born players vying for roster spots in training camp, including 2023 first overall selection Daxon Rudolph.
Macias says he is looking forward to being looked at as one of the leaders in Prince Albert this season.
“I love it and I’m so excited about it, I know what the game is about here and I know all the differences, maybe not all the differences, but more of them than last year, so I’m looking very forward to it and I know our team is very, very exciting and very good this year, so I’m very excited to be part of it and maybe help the guys to achieve as much as we can.”
Macias will be out for the first two games of the season because of a suspension carried over from last season. Macias was given a five minute major and a game misconduct for checking to the head in Game 5 against Saskatoon in the playoffs. He is eligible to return to the Raider lineup on Sept. 27 when the Raiders welcome the Brandon Wheat Kings.
The Raiders begin the 2024-25 season on Friday, Sept. 20 when they welcome the Regina Pats to the Art Hauser Centre.
sports@pahearld.sk.ca
