The obvious take about the Boston Bruins and the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina is that it\u2019s a great reflection on their roster talent that they sent nine total players from the organization to the Olympic hockey tournament taking place in Italy.<\/p>\n
Charlie McAvoy and Jeremy Swayman\u00a0were all decked out in their Team USA gear for Friday\u2019s opening ceremonies, and David Pastrnak was honored as one of the flag bearers for Team Czechia during those same opening ceremonies.<\/p>\n
It was an honor that the 29-year-old was incredibly humbled and honored by, and it speaks to how big of a deal No. 88 is in a home country where he\u2019s going to be mentioned in the same breath as legends like Jaromir Jagr when it\u2019s all said and done.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly [I am] speechless,\u201d said Pastrnak after Wednesday night\u2019s final regular-season shootout loss to the Panthers ahead of the Olympic break. \u201cVery, very honored and going over there to represent my country. I am going to give them my all. Very happy and honored to be able to hold our flag and represent us at the ceremony.\u201d<\/p>\n
But there is another side to all of this, and it\u2019s the incredible strain that having so many Olympic players is going to have on the Black and Gold once the NHL resumes, and the B\u2019s play their final 25 regular-season games in the six-week sprint to the Stanley Cup playoffs.<\/p>\n
The Bruins will have eight players at the Olympic games after it was announced on Saturday that Pavel Zacha\u00a0will be withdrawing from services for Team Czechia due to an injury, he suffered last week while playing with the Bruins.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddff GM Jiri Slegr on centre Pavel Zacha being unavailable for Olympics due to injury:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s sad for our team &, of course, for Pavel because he was very anxious to be here \u2026 unfortunately, he\u2019s hurt. They wouldn\u2019t let him come here so it’s sad\u201d<\/p>\n
Open \ud83c\udd9a \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6 Thursday@TSN_Sports<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/YZeVWEvFcX<\/a><\/p>\n