MILAN \u2013 Czechia\u2019s hockey hopes in Milan took a big blow on Saturday when Boston Bruins centre Pavel Zacha was ruled out of the Olympics.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s sad for all our team and, of course, for Pavel also because he was very anxious to be here and compete against the best players in the world,\u201d Czech general manager Jiri Slegr told TSN. \u201cUnfortunately, he\u2019s hurt. They wouldn\u2019t let him come here, so it\u2019s sad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zacha last played on Jan. 29, when he sustained an upper-body injury during a game against the Philadelphia Flyers. He missed Boston\u2019s final two games before the Olympic break. With 37 points in 54 games, Zacha is fourth in scoring among all Czech NHL players this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was our first [line] centre so, yes, it is a hole, but we have to work [around] it,\u201d Slegr said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to miss him for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Filip Chlapik, who plays for Sparta Praha in the Czech Extraliga, will replace Zacha on the roster. With Zacha out, the Czechs are now down to 12 NHL players on their 25-man roster.<\/p>\n
Czechia opens the tournament on Thursday against Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think everybody\u2019s looking forward to it because it\u2019s such a hard opponent,\u201d Slegr said. \u201cIn my opinion, if I will be the player right now, I\u2019d be happy because that\u2019s the test right at the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n
And Slegr, who played 11 NHL seasons with stops in Vancouver and Edmonton along the way, believes the underdog role will suit his team.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always better, I think, than being a favourite and under pressure from the beginning,\u201d said Slegr. \u201cWe have a team who won the world championship in 2024. We have 19 players, now 18 because Pavel was there and he\u2019s not coming, but still it\u2019s almost all the team that has the experience to win the world championship. So, they know how to play together to achieve something. I believe they\u2019re going to step into the tournament with this attitude.\u201d<\/p>\n
Czechia also boasts a strong trio of goaltenders in Lukas Dostal of the Anaheim Ducks, Karel Vejmelka of the Utah Mammoth and Dan Vladar of the Flyers. While charter flights will bring most of the NHL Olympians to Milan on Sunday, both Dostal and Vejmelka arrived early.<\/p>\n
Lukas Dostal practiced with Czechia, the first NHL player on the ice at the Milan Olympics.<\/p>\n
“I decided: What would I do in Anaheim? Shoot the puck to the boards and try to stop it myself? It probably wouldn’t really work.”<\/p>\n