Józef Kurek

One of the all-time top scoring players in the history of the Polish hockey league, winger Józef Kurek was active in the top tier of Polish hockey for 18 seasons. He played for three teams: KTH/Union Krynica (1948-1954), Gwardia Bydgoszcz (1954-55) and finally Legia Warszawa (1955-1969). With the latter team he won all of his seven championships, while placing runner-up five more times. Kurek was a fixture on the Polish national team, playing in two Olympics as well as four A-level World Championships. After his playing career, he took up coaching, initially as the assistant coach of the national team, and from 1975-77 as the head coach. He also coached numerous club teams, mostly in Poland, but also in Netherlands, Belgium and Spain.