It came as no surprise that Boston Bruins center Pavel Zacha was named to the Czech Olympic team for the 2026 Winter Games. Along with teammate David Pastrnak, the duo was expecting to make memories overin Milano Cortino.
All of that came to crashing hault in late January when Zacha suffered an upper-body injury in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers at the TD Garden. He missed the final two games before the break, and head coach Marco Sturm said it was up to Zacha and Czechia as to whether or not he was going to go over for the games.
It was announced before the tournament that Zacha was ruled out of the Olympics, which is a huge blow for him. The Bruins, who are not taking part in the Olympics, were back at Warrior Ice Arena on Wednesday afternoon to begin a small mini-camp for the season, which resumes next Thursday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets at the TD Garden. After being out on the ice in a red non-contact jersey, the veteran said how frustrating it is to be watching the games from home.
Bruins Pavel Zacha opens up about missing Olympics
Zacha was ruled out over a week ago and said it was a decision that was made between the Bruins, Zacha, and Czechia's National Team.
“That was one of the most frustrating things, especially when it’s something you were looking forward to. It was really hard,” said Zacha. "It’s hard watching the games, knowing I can’t be there to experience it.
“I thought right away I’m going to be going, because right away it got better,” he said. “Then it was stagnant and started to get worse. For three days, it was good, then it started to get better. After a week and a half, I knew it wasn’t going to happen.”
As for returning to the Boston lineup for the playoff push following the break, Sturm seemed hopeful it could happen.
“Hopefully,” said Sturm. “He’s been here in treatments. He’s definitely on the right track.”
That is certainly some good news, given the push the Black and Gold are going to face to make the Stanley Cup playoffs.