NHL Executive Marty Walsh addresses Boston Bruins Star Being Excluded From The 4-Nations Face-Off
Photo credit: Sportsnet
The Boston Bruins will have four players in the Four Nations Face-Off, come February 12th in Montreal. However, one player will be missing from the best-on-best tournament, David Pastrnak. The NHLPA's Marty Walsh addressed his absence.
The Boston Bruins will have four players who are featured in the Four Nations Face Off, which begins on February 12th in Montreal.
The tournament will be played in the Bell Centre and TD Garden two homes of the original-six rivals.
«The main topic is the 4 Nations coming up, best-on-best competition in international hockey,» Walsh told reporters before puck drop, according to audio provided by NESN.com's Keagan Stiefel. «We haven't had it in a while in the league, and having it come back is great, We have 90 NHL players playing.
While we should expect to see Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy, Jeremy Swayman, and Elias Lindholm suiting up for their respective countries, there's one Bruins we'll miss.
There were NHL players who were lobbying the NHLPA's Marty Walsh to let more countries partake in the tournament.
«What happened there, and Pasta was one of (the players jockeying for more teams), we talked to him,» Walsh explained. «When I took over in 2023, one of the things was we wanted to get the World Cup of Hockey back in place, and we wanted to do the Olympics.
So we started talking to the league about the Olympics and came to an agreement. « We realized we didn't have enough time. We talked about six teams, eight teams and we went with the four because we just didn't have the time to put a tournament that big together.
So we started talking to the league about the Olympics and came to an agreement. « We realized we didn't have enough time. We talked about six teams, eight teams and we went with the four because we just didn't have the time to put a tournament that big together.
This leaves one of the best NHLers on the sidelines, as he'll cheer on either Team USA, Canada, or Team Sweden.
A sad state of affairs for the NHL, and NHLPA who have dropped the ball on a best-on-best tournament.
Which doesn't including all of the best in the NHL, as Czechia is missing, Slovakia is missing, and so is Russia.
Pastrnak's impact on the NHL can't be understated, as an elite sniper and playmaker in the league.
Last season in 82 games he scored 110 points (47 G, 63 A) and is a fixture on the B's top line.
So because of Marty Walsh and Gary Bettman's laziness, we'll have to wait until 2026 to see a real best-on-best tournament in the Olympics.
What a fumble.
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 3 | 172 ANSWERS NHL Executive Marty Walsh addresses Boston Bruins Star Being Excluded From The 4-Nations Face-Off Do you think the NHL and NHLPA's Marty Walsh screwed over forward David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins? | ||
| Yes | 141 | 82 % |
| No | 31 | 18 % |
| List of polls | ||
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