WHLer Macias scores twice in Poland's first World Championship game since 2002

Krzysztof Macias is just coming off his rookie campaign with the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders. Now the 19-year-old left winger is playing in his first IIHF World Championship for Poland and it was quite a debut. In Poland’s first top-division game since 2002, Macias scored twice on NHL goaltender Elvis Merzlikins in a 5-4 overtime loss to reigning bronze-medalist Latvia.

“We were just running on adrenaline,” he said. “We didn’t look at who we were playing against at all. We tried to follow what we worked on in practice and I think it paid off. It’s just too bad we allowed five goals. We need to strengthen the defense a bit and I think it will work.”

Macias’ hometown of Nowy Targ, Poland is only 120 miles (less than 200 km) from Ostrava, in the region of the country near the Czech and Slovak borders where hockey is most popular in Poland. Because of that, Polish fans have flocked to Ostrava to support the team and most of the Polish players, including Macias, have family present. Before going to Prince Albert, Macias played hockey in the city, including five Extraliga games with Vítkovice in 2022-23, so the city and Ostravar Arena are like home to him.

“After nine years in Ostrava, I can probably speak Czech better than Polish,” Macias joked with Czech media after the game, as reported by hokej.cz’s Petr Koval.

“It was an amazing feeling, and the fans made it even better,” Macias said about scoring the opening goal of the game late in the first period. “They reacted completely unbelievably, but they probably didn't expect this either.”

Macias showed a knack for scoring in the WHL with 22 goals and 47 points in 65 regular-season games, then another goal in five playoff games.

“I like to shoot from positions where goalies don’t expect it,” said Macias. “I’m glad I scored another one, and I hope to score some more.”

Asked about the days leading up to the World Championship, Macias said: “I was counting down the days. I didn’t know if I would make it to the final roster, but when I found out I was going, it was an incredible feeling. My friends wrote to me that they would like to see me here. It's really great.”

Speaking about the progress he’s made playing junior hockey in Canada, Macias said: “I've definitely made a lot of progress in my physical game. It certainly wasn’t like that a year ago. I’ve also started trying to shoot from anywhere because the rink there is narrower. Goalies are only human, so I try to surprise them.”