Walery Kosyl

Walery Kosyl was born in Alfeld, Germany in 1944 when his parents were deported there to do forced labour. After the end of the war Kosyl moved to Łódź, where he showed an interest in sport, first as a footballer, before taking up ice hockey. He made his début in the Polish league in 1962 when he was 18-years-old, eventually playing in more than 550 league games over 20 seasons. In the late 1960s he became the first Polish goaltender to score a goal during a match, skating down the rink before shooting the puck past the opposition’s goalie.

For the Polish national team Kosyl played in 137 matches for the side from 1964 to 1976, becoming one of the best goaltenders from Poland of all time. During his international career he competed at seven World Championships and two Olympic Games. At both the Sapporo and Innsbruck Games, Poland finished sixth, with Kosyl playing in six and two matches, respectively.

Kosyl finished his domestic career with the Austrian team Klagenfurt in the 1982–83 season, before returning to Poland to work as a coach for ŁKS. He also worked as a youth coach for the Łódź Hockey Association.