Warsaw amateur side shares draniki and Christmas wafers

Belarusian stand-up comedian Maksim Kanaval has described how he returned to hockey as an adult and how his Warsaw amateur side marks the season with shared meals.

He began at seven in Navapolatsk, near the ice arena, after coaches invited first-graders to try the game. He told his parents he wanted to play. For the next six years he trained with Khimik, entered competitions and travelled with the team. Hockey took him abroad for the first time, to Poland and Latvia.

In his teens, health problems took him out of regular training. School grew harder, and trips took more time. His mother and grandmother held that education mattered more. He listened and stopped playing at 13. Interest remained: he sometimes skated at the Niamiha rink in Minsk, without talk of rejoining a team.

He returned after moving to Kyiv. In early 2017 friends suggested a game on a frozen lake. He bought skates and a stick and, once on the ice, found the childhood skills were still there. He says he realised he skated well and could still beat someone, and that he needed an amateur team. He joined Kyiv’s White Bears, trained twice a week at first, then was invited into the Kyiv Hockey League, where players with semi-professional experience also appeared. Training, matches and the game he had given up again took a large place in his life.

In 2022 he moved to Poland. His equipment stayed in Kyiv, so he could not train at once. In Warsaw he met a Belarusian from Hrodna; both were interested in hockey, and the acquaintance told him about the Warsaw team Legion. Kanaval said his gear was still in Kyiv. The other man replied that they would look on the OLX classifieds immediately. They found an advert: a seller leaving the sport because of an injury was offering used equipment at a small price. Kanaval was back on the ice in the Polish capital.

Legion players first trained together. The team later entered official third-league competitions and became champion two seasons in a row. So many players joined that two squads formed, Legion-1 and Legion-2, about 40 people in all. In the 2026/2027 season Legion-1, the squad Kanaval plays for, is moving up to the second league. Opponents include former professional players. The first match of the new season is scheduled for 25 October.

Legion is multinational. About half the players are Poles. Among the rest, most are Belarusians, with Ukrainians, a Canadian and a Dane as well. Kanaval says the requirements changed this season: where the share of Polish players previously had to be at least half, a majority is now required, 50 percent plus one player. That could have been a problem because the side has many foreigners. He says the team was saved by a couple of Belarusians who already hold Polish passports: they are Belarusians, but they are registered as Poles. He also says there is no xenophobia or split by nationality. Players met through hockey and many became close friends. They celebrate holidays together, go out into nature, and once went kayaking in Masuria.

The side trains at the COS Torwar ice arena in Warsaw, mainly on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Kanaval sometimes goes on the ice on Saturdays as well. Championship games can fall on weekends. The coach previously played for Warsaw’s Legia. Players pay to take part. One session costs 60 zlotys (45 rubles). A monthly pass covering eight or nine sessions costs 300 zlotys (230 rubles). The money goes to ice rental and the coach’s salary.

Buying equipment and coming to training is enough to try out for an amateur team. Official competitions require a licence. A player must pass a medical examination and file documents through the Polish Ice Hockey Federation. The Belarusian Ice Hockey Federation must confirm the player’s sports status, including whether there is a professional contract. Kanaval notes that, unlike other bodies, the Belarusian federation answers enquiries very quickly.

He also describes a locker-room culture of jokes, match talk and tradition, and says superstition is typical. One teammate always takes the same seat on the bus to a match and is sure it helps him play better. Others follow fixed habits with equipment: a set order for putting on skates, or one particular towel. Before a game with Białystok the team listened to loud music in the locker room and lost; Kanaval says they never listen to loud music before matches now. Another tradition is not to shave or have a haircut during the playoffs, which can last several weeks, so players go about unshaven. Kanaval keeps jersey number 88, chosen for his birth year. In Legion, players may pick their own numbers if nobody else has them, while number 1 is reserved for the goalkeeper. He laughs that this is not like Belarus, where only one person plays under number one, referring to Lukashenka.

In the regular season players usually go home after matches. Important victories are celebrated together. After both third-league finals the players gathered in a restaurant to mark the end of the season. Less formal customs sit alongside that. Before Christmas or Easter everyone brings something for a common table. After training the players carry tables into the locker room and sit down to a joint dinner. For Christmas, Polish players bring oplatki, thin wafers traditionally shared at the festive table while people exchange wishes, and Belarusians bring draniki, potato pancakes.