Taken from Wikipedia: Prior to World War I, Gretzky's father Anton (Tony) Gretzky immigrated along with his family to Canada via the United States from the Russian Empire (what is now Grodno, Belarus).Following the war, Anton would marry his wife, Mary, who immigrated from Pidhaitsi, interwar Poland (now Ukraine).Gretzky's ancestry is typically described as either Belarusian, Ukrainian, or Polish. In interviews, Walter Gretzky has stated that his parents were Belarusians, while on other occasions he has mentioned his family's Polish ancestry.
The distilled version is Walter Gretzky had a Belarusian father and Ukrainian mother, and his native tongue was Ukrainian at home. The mother was born in Ukraine, but it was occupied by Poland at the time, which leads to the whole Polish misnomer.
There a many many more players in the NHL that have Polish ancestry but not necessarily a Polish name (most of the time due to mother being Polish, but not father).
Most of these players have nothing to do w/ Poland at this point, they are as Polish as Sidney Crosby is Scottish or British.
Wolski has expressed he'd like to play for Polish NT but IIHF rules don't allow it in his current status. Czerkawski and Oliwa were the only players to have been the product of the Polish hockey system in Poland.
There are plenty polish names in NHL (below I choose from current rosters) but as legionista said the only products of polish system are Czerkawski and Oliwa.
Bartkowski, Matt (D) BOS
Grzelcyk, Matthew (D) BOS
Lepkowski, Alex (D) BUF
Szczechura, Paul (C) BUF
Szydlowski, Shawn (C) BUF
Jankowski, Mark (C) CGY
Stempniak, Lee (R) CGY
Wisniewski, James (D) CBJ
Oleksiak, Jamie (D) DAL
Czarnik, Robert (C) LAK
Brodziak, Kyle (C) MIN
Konopka, Zenon (C) MIN
Cichy, Michael (C) MTL
Tokarski, Dustin (G) MTL
Zalewski, Steven (C) NJD
Borowiecki, Mark (D) OTT
Dziurzynski, Dave (L) OTT
Wiercioch, Patrick (D) OTT
Stolarz, Anthony (G) PHI
Zolnierczyk, Harry (L) PHI
Dziurzynski, Darian (L) PHX
Hanowski, Ben (R) PIT
Witkowski, Luke (D) TBL
Komisarek, Mike (D) TOR
Kostka, Michael (D) TOR
Wolski, Wojtek (L) WSH
Wolski is ethnically a Pole while Heatley is a Canadian. There is zero reason to consider Heatley a German NHL player. Wolski: Debatable. His upbringings are Canadian, so I would prefer to consider him a Canadian, but ethnically you could view him as a Polish NHL player.
Justin Abdelkader. Justin Abdelkader is the son of Joseph and Sheryl Abdelkader. The surname Abdelkader is Arabic. His paternal grandfather, Yusuf Abdul Qadir (Anglicised Joseph Abdelkader), emigrated from Jordan at the age of 19 to Muskegon, where he later met a Polish girl named Susie.
pretty sure wolski played all his pre nhl hockey in canada, i dont consider him a polish player
He's ethnicity is Polish, he was born in Poland, speaks fluent Polish, has dual citizenship, speaks Polish at home w/ his family, has family still living in Poland, chose to play in the Polish league out of all the leagues he could have during the lockout, has stated he would play for the Polish NT if rules allowed it.
However, he learned to play hockey in Canada and developed his skill there. Still he's the most Polish player in the NHL right now.
He's ethnicity is Polish, he was born in Poland, speaks fluent Polish, has dual citizenship, speaks Polish at home w/ his family, has family still living in Poland, chose to play in the Polish league out of all the leagues he could have during the lockout, has stated he would play for the Polish NT if rules allowed it.
However, he learned to play hockey in Canada and developed his skill there. Still he's the most Polish player in the NHL right now.
What would it take for him to play for Poland internationally? Nabokov plays for Russia and he represented Kazakhstan and was not only born, but played all his youth and early pro hockey their too. Why can he change allegiance, yet Wolski can't play for Poland having never represented Canada, despite holding Polish citizenship, being born there and playing some hockey in the country?
Wolski can't play for Poland having never represented Canada, despite holding Polish citizenship, being born there and playing some hockey in the country?
The IIHF demands that the player must have "participated for at least two consecutive years in the national competitions" of the country he wants to represent "during which period he has neither transferred to another country nor played ice hockey within any other country."
The IIHF demands that the player must have "participated for at least two consecutive years in the national competitions" of the country he wants to represent "during which period he has neither transferred to another country nor played ice hockey within any other country."
Really? So he'd have to play 2 years in Poland in order to represent them? Poland had better hope they get a KHL team then.
Really? So he'd have to play 2 years in Poland in order to represent them? Poland had better hope they get a KHL team then.
Wolski would be a very good candidate to play for Olivia Gdansk, especially since his career in the NHL has been pretty disappointing the last few years. However hearing recent development I doubt Olivia will be ready to enter next season, maybe in two years.
Wolski is ethnically a Pole while Heatley is a Canadian. There is zero reason to consider Heatley a German NHL player. Wolski: Debatable. His upbringings are Canadian, so I would prefer to consider him a Canadian, but ethnically you could view him as a Polish NHL player.
Heatley's mother is German, so you can definitely view him as an ethnic German.
Quote:
Originally Posted by smitty10
Spent his whole life in and represents France internationally.
Sure but the vast majority of the players mentioned in this thread spent their whole life in Canada, so they shouldn't count either.
Sure but the vast majority of the players mentioned in this thread spent their whole life in Canada, so they shouldn't count either.
You're right, they shouldn't and they don't. I think Wolski should be the lone exception because he was actually born in Poland and lived there before moving to Canada at 2 or 3. He should, in my mind, be eligible to represent Poland internationally.
