After being eliminated in a heartbreaking game seven over the weekend, David Pastrnak’s season of hockey is not quite over. The Boston Bruins forward will join the Czech national team at the IIHF World Championship on Wednesday, in time for them to play their fourth group stage game on Thursday.
Given the yearly success of the Bruins in the postseason, it has been quite a few years since Pastrnak has represented Czechia but he has been quite committed to them throughout his career. In 2018, after scoring 20 points in 12 postseason games with the Bruins, he still managed to join the World Championship team for another handful of games. He is represented his country at several other tournaments, including the 2016 World Cup and three World Juniors.
Interestingly enough, Pastrnak is another example of this wave of NHL superstars that have never received a chance to play in the Olympics. That is despite being selected for the 2022 team, before the league decided to pull out of the event at the last minute. Pastrnak, Ondrej Palat, and Jakub Voracek were the three players that Czechia had named to the club ahead of time.
Given their schedule, he will be arriving just in time. The Czechs finish off the group stage with very important games against the U.S. and Finland, which could determine their fate in the event.
More must-reads: