Fife Flyers’ coach Tom Coolen lands ‘highly competitive’ record points scorer from Polish hockey

Michael Cichy has become of the best known players in the Polish Hockey League where he has played for the past decade - and Coolen rates him highly.

He describes him as “a highly competitive, skilled player” and is the first new name on the roster for 2025-26. Netminder Shane Owen was the first confirmed returnee earlier this week as Flyers make an earlier than usual start to summer signing announcements.

Cichy, 33, brings a wealth of experience to the team. Born in New Britain, Connecticut, he was a 2009 seventh round draft pick for the Montreal Canadiens, and spent the next five seasons playing in the NCAA playing his college hockey with University of North Dakota and Western Michigan University. His pro hockey career started with Sanok in season 2014/15 where he played alongside a quartet of former Flyers – Bryan Pitton, David Turon, Justin DaCosta and Kris Hogg.

Poland beckoned and, over the last ten years he has netted more points than any other player in the league - some 200 goals and 269 assists from 375 games. The next closest, Krystian Dziubinski, is 114 points behind with 33 fewer games played. Cichy also set the record for points in a Polish Hockey League in 2015-16 with 113, beating the previous record by ten.

His mother’s Polish heritage also opened the door to a spot on the Polish national team, making his debut during that record setting season.

In total, Cichy played for a total of six different teams with the majority of his games with GKS Tychy over five seasons. There, he won the Polish Championship three times and cup once.

He also played in the Champions Hockey League in season 2018/19 and his goal against Bolzano was named ‘goal of the tournament’ and helped secure the first ever win by a Polish team in the competition. In the last two seasons he was a team mate of Kevin Lindskoug’s when he iced with Unia Oswiecim and Podhale Nowy Targ.

Coolen said “I had the opportunity to watch Mike closely over three years and was always impressed by his speed and playing ability. He played at North Dakota - a top NCAA school, was MVP in the USHL, and played for USA U17 and U18 Team. He can run the power play or kill penalties. He gives us quality depth down the middle. He is a proven winner.”

Cichy said: “After a long career in Poland I’m very excited for a new journey. Playing for coach Coolen has always been a goal of mine and I want to make an impact for him and the organisation”