[2] In the Olympics earlier that year, Poland played 5 matches in the top division, but lost all of them.

Four days later, after being destroyed by the Soviet Union, the Poles took on Czechoslovakia who dominated the whole game throughout and won 7–1, but after the drug testing, the officials found that one of the Czech players tested positive for doping and they awarded Poland with a 1–0 victory, although they didn't receive any points in the standings.

Poland managed to clean up a bit over four years and played well during the 1980 Olympics and finished seventh out of twelve teams.

They managed to pull off a huge upset in their first game by beating Finland 5–4, who would eventually advance to the medal round.

The players knew that this would be a challenge because they had played the Soviets many times before and had lost by usually very lopsided scores, such as 8–3, 9–3, 16–1, and 20–0.

When Communist rule ended in 1989, the Polish national team began a slow decline in international play.

They reached the Olympics in 1992, the most recent time they have played there, and finished eleventh out of twelve teams.

During the 1990s the first two Polish-born and trained players were selected in the NHL Entry Draft: Mariusz Czerkawski was selected in the 1991 by the Boston Bruins, and Krzysztof Oliwa in 1993 by the New Jersey Devils; Oliwa won the Stanley Cup with the Devils in 2000, the first and only Pole to do so.

The White Eagles finally returned to the elite level after finishing runner-up in group A in 2023.