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Bruins’ David Pastrnak tees off on NHL for excluding Czechia in 4 Nations Face-Off

Originally posted on ClutchPoints | By Colin Gallant | Last updated 2/6/24

The National Hockey League announced a new ‘4 Nations Face-Off’ during All-Star Weekend that will replace the ASG in 2025. And much to the chagrin of Boston Bruins superstar forward David Pastrnak, Czechia will not be included in the festivities.

Only Canada, the United States, Sweden and Finland will be participating in the tournament next year, and the 27-year-old voiced his displeasure with the decision on Monday.

“It’s a huge disappointment. I don’t know how much I can say. Definitely not happy about it,” the Bruins’ leading scorer said, according to Boston.com’s Conor Ryan.

“I understand that it’s a quick turnaround. It’s next year. They probably didn’t have much time to make it a bigger tournament. But Czech isn’t there. So it’s always a lot of players left out, so I’m not gonna watch the tournament, to be honest. So just happy that the Olympics got accepted. Yeah, [it] definitely stings a little bit.”

NHL back to best-on-best international

The nine-day event, which is scheduled for February of 2025, signals the NHL’s return to international play. The league will also return to the 2026 and 2030 Winter Olympic Games after missing the last two iterations.

Despite Czechia being left out in 2025, Pastrnak’s home country will be included in Milan, Italy in 2026.

“I’m so pumped,” Pasta continued. “I was open about it with you guys this whole time. Obviously very frustrating for me, I missed two of them already. So looking forward to — I’ll be 30, I hope I make the team. But I’m super excited and pumped that the deal got done. It is a couple years away from now, but once the news came I definitely was happy.”

Pastrnak will almost certainly be on the team; he last represented his country at the 2022 IIHF World Championship, helping Czechia win bronze by potting 10 points in just seven games.

The 4 Nations Face-Off is the first event in a revamped international calendar that will see the NHL stage best-on-best tournaments every two years after Milan. The league hasn’t participated in a best-on-best event since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

That’s amazing news for hockey fans, although it is certainly disappointing for Bruins’ David Pastrnak — and Czechia — to not be participating in 2025.

This article first appeared on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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