Dzieje sekcji hokejowej TS Wisła (English)
Z Historia Wisły
History of the Ice Hockey Section of TS Wisła Kraków
History of the Section
1927 - 1931
The hockey section was established in 1927. At that time, similar sections already existed at Cracovia, Sokół, Makkabi, and Jutrzenka. Initially, hockey players gathered for dry training sessions on Wisła's field, and with the onset of frost, they trained on ice at the artificial rink in the barracks on Rajska Street or in the Kraków Park.
Wisła played its first hockey match against Sokół, winning 2:1. In further regional Kraków championship matches, Wisła was eliminated, and Cracovia became the champion.
In friendly matches played in Kraków between Wisła and Cracovia, the first game on February 4, 1928, ended with a Wisła victory of 2:1, with goals scored by Krupa and Makowski. In the return match on March 18, 1928, Cracovia won 4:1, with Makowski scoring Wisła's only goal.
In the Kraków championship matches, which were held from December 22 to 25, 1928, Wisła defeated Makkabi 4:1, then won against Sokół 10:0, and drew 2:2 with Cracovia on the last day. As a result of these matches, Wisła won the championship with 5 points and a goal difference of 16:3, while Cracovia also had 5 points but a goal difference of 14:2; Makkabi and Sokół followed.
In the Polish hockey championship in Krynica from December 28 to 31, 1928, Wisła's results were as follows: on December 28, Wisła lost to Legia 1:11, on December 29, lost to A. Z. S. (Warsaw) 0:18, on December 30, drew with T. K. S. 1:1, and on December 31, lost to A. Z. S. (Vilnius) 0:2.
In 1929, Wisła participated in a hockey tournament in Kraków with Czarnych, Makkabi, and Sokół. Wisła lost to Czarnych 1:2 but won against Sokół 5:0. On January 3 of that year, Wisła played two more matches – winning 2:1 against Makkabi and losing 1:2 to Lechia.
On March 5 and 7, Wisła participated in championships, but lost all three matches, namely to Makkabi, Sokół, and Cracovia, all with the score 1:2. Cracovia won the Class A championship at that time.
In 1930, at the hockey tournament in Zakopane from January 9 to 12, involving clubs from the Kraków district, Wisła played the following matches: Makkabi — Wisła 3:1, K. T. H. — Wisła 3:1, and Wisła — Cracovia 2:1. Due to these results, Wisła ended up last in the tournament with 2 points and a goal difference of 4:7. The last success of Wisła in the match against Cracovia was thanks to the new player, engineer Sroubka, a former representative of Czechoslovakia.
In the regional championship matches, the results were as follows: Wisła lost both matches to Cracovia with scores of 1:5, won both matches against Makkabi with scores of 1:0, drew one match with Sokół 2:2, and lost the other 1:2. These results gave Wisła 5 points and third place after Cracovia and Sokół. In December, Wisła played its first hockey match after the summer break against Makkabi, ending in a 2:2 draw.
The hockey section's activities were suspended by the Wisła Society's Board in 1931. The decision was forced by the lack of a dedicated rink, which significantly hindered training and the further development of the section.
All the section's equipment was transferred to Zakopane for the TS Wisła skiing section, Zakopane branch. The hockey section in Zakopane was only established in 1933, and the first training match was scheduled for December 24, 1934, against the Sokół hockey section, marking the opening of the new rink in Zakopane. The training match, which was more of a hockey lesson, ended with a 3:3 score. Inappropriate climatic conditions in Western Małopolska and the lack of an artificial rink made maintaining the hockey section very costly without prospects for rational and proper development of the sport. These reasons were the only ones for the closure of the ice hockey section in Kraków, despite its immense popularity.
Speed skating on ice, as well as artificial ice skating, was officially practiced by only one Wisła player, Tadeusz Krupa, who competed in club colors. In 1924, at the Kraków district championships in Kraków Park, he won third place in speed skating over 500 meters, behind Pazdanowski of Cracovia. In artificial ice skating in compulsory exercises, Krupa placed first with 10 points.
Further History of the Section
From 1934, the hockey traditions of Kraków's Wisła were continued by its Zakopane branch. After the war, Wisła's hockey in Kraków was revived by Tadeusz Wójcik (who had to hide his AK past under the pseudonym Antoni Lachcik in the new realities). A major problem in 1945 was assembling the equipment needed for the sport. Alexander Britow, a great hockey enthusiast, assisted the White Star in this regard. Thus, in January 1946, Wisła Kraków played its first post-war hockey match. The greatest successes included the Kraków Championship in 1946 and the Polish vice-championship in 1947. From 1961, the hockey section was moved to Nowy Targ, where Wisła's branch, Wisła Nowy Targ, was also located. In 1965, it advanced to the II league.
In 1966, the roster of the Nowy Targ Wisła first team included: goalkeepers J. Lasyk, M. Hedwig, H. Zamarlik; defenders J. Osinko, Fr. Mrugała, J. Jachimczyk, A. Mrugała, Fr. Bryniarski; forwards - St. Lipkowski, Z. Stahl, A. Radzki, Cz. Choroba, J. Miotła, J. Pyzowski, T. Radzki, R. Voit, T. Garb, E. Tętnowski, K. Mikołajski. The branch was managed by President Major Tadeusz Urbańczyk, the secretary was Mieczysław Gamrat, and the coach for 5 years was Jan Thomas. Source: "60 Years Under the Happy Star," TS Wisła Jubilee Publishing (1966).
