A busy offseason has led to growth for Macias
From representing his country on the international stage, from attending Florida Panthers development camp, there have been a lot of miles put under the belt of Krzysztof Macias. Recently returned home to Nowy Targ, Poland, the Raiders’ import forward shared how his summer has gone so far, starting with development camp in the sunshine state.
“It was incredible,” Macias said. “Obviously it started a little bit later than the other teams because they won the Stanley Cup so they were celebrating. But it was amazing once I got there. Everything went smooth, and it was a great time with fun people. I enjoyed it very much, it was one of the best experiences in my career.”
Aside from the drills on the ice, the Panthers prospects spent a day out in the ocean fishing. Macias shared how he felt fishing for the first time in his life.
“That was my first time fishing, and I can’t say I loved it, but I liked it,” he said. “The group was nice, it was a team building day, so that was the best part about it was being with the guys. I didn’t do bad, but it’s always fun to try new things and to see what other people are interested in.”
Attending an NHL camp for the first time, Macias said he wasn’t sure what to expect, from the new people he was going to meet, to getting to learn new things on the ice. However, he quickly felt like he belonged with the rest of the players, and was amazed at the pace of play in Florida.
“The style of playing in Florida is unbelievable,” he explained. “The players are trying to do everything at 100%. The coaching staff is pushing you to do everything the best you can. We learned a lot about Florida’s style of playing hockey, and I’m not surprised that they won the Stanley Cup.
“The biggest thing I learned from Florida was to never stop competing and to never stop believing in myself. I went there not knowing anything about who’s going to be there and what it was going to be like. Some of their top prospects were there, and I don’t think I was worse than them, I don’t think I looked bad. I learned to believe more in myself and to keep working because that’s the way to success.”
Shortly after Prince Albert’s season came to an end in the playoffs, Macias got the call to represent Poland at the 2024 World Hockey Championship in Czechia. It’s one of the biggest hockey tournaments in the world, and with Poland being brought back into the main grouping for the first time in 22 years, it was a chance for Macias to prove himself on the biggest stage of his career.
“That was probably the best moment of my life, not just my hockey career. Playing against players that I’ve seen on TV, fighting for Stanley Cups. It was amazing, I lived the dream there, and I also got to play hockey in the city that I played in for nine years before I came to Prince Albert, so that was pretty special too. Playing at home and playing against the top players from the NHL, it was incredible to play against them and learn from them.”
The last time Poland played in the highest division, Macias, who was the youngest player on the team, wasn’t even born. And to make the storyline even more historic, Macias scored Poland’s first goal of the tournament, ending the 22 year drought. Not only that, he scored twice in their first game.
“That was an amazing feeling,” Macias said. “I knew that we were going to surprise some people with how we play. We were really focused and left everything on the ice. Our first game was against the Latvia and it was our plan to surprise them because they would underestimate us. We started pushing from the beginning. I think you could see it in Prince Albert, too, I try to shoot from tough angles that nobody else would shoot from, because you have to give the goalie a chance to make a mistake. That’s exactly what happened, and it went in, so I couldn’t be happier about that.”
Looking ahead, Macias explained what his mindset is heading into next season, explaining the goal has always been to exceed his own expectations.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen for sure in the future, but my main goal hasn’t changed. It’s still to work as hard as I can and leaving everything out there, so when I end my career, I can say I did everything possible to reach my goals and my ceiling. I’m going to work as hard as ever and try to compete wherever I am.”
Reflecting on his rookie season with the Raiders, Macias said there were a lot of learning curves, which came with ups and downs. At the end of the day, he said it was a brotherhood, one he’s looking forward to coming back to in 2024-25.
“I learned a lot about myself, because there wasn’t only good times during the season, I had some rough stretches. There were many people who helped me and I was able to bounce back. I found my game, and I’m very grateful for everybody who helped me to get back to my game. The team was very good, and we were all just a bunch of friends. We had a lot of fun during the season, which was the most important part of the season. I’m very grateful to play with this team, and I hope next year is the same.”
One more message from Macias, to the fans:
“The fans are amazing in Prince Albert. I heard about it before I came and I wasn’t disappointed. They are truly amazing, and I can’t wait to see them again.”
