Pastrnak leaks the sacrificial details regarding the World Championships

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Joshua Deeds
May 31, 2024 (10:29 PM)

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Unfortunately, David Pastrnak's post-season in the NHL ended as the Florida Panthers once again eliminated the Bruins from the playoffs.

Afterwards, Pastrnak and Bruins' teammate Pavel Zacha, would travel to Prague, Czechia to take part in the IIHF World Hockey Championships.

Czechia would defeat the Swiss National Team, in a shutout game, 2-0 on Sunday to secure a gold medal.

«Boy, this was insane honestly,» Pastrnak told «Spittin' Chiclets» on Tuesday how it felt to win a gold medal in his home country. «The fans, you could see the whole country was leaving the tournament and overall, the whole three weeks, they were making the hockey really enjoyable for the whole country.

«(Monday), honestly, it was one of my better days. To see and bring all these people to the old square (for the celebration in Prague). It was a lot of fun. I enjoyed it. I needed it, so, it was fun.»

Both Pastrnak and Zacha would arrive in the IIHF tournament and score goals. They talked of sacrifice of their teammates, who'd have to set to let someone in the NHL play during the tournament.

Much like any NHL club has during the off-season, National Teams have their own Black Aces, which Pasta and Zacha would displace from the lineup.

«It's very easy to be hit and miss when you come to the World Championship especially for a couple of guys coming in late from the NHL,» Pastrnak said. «You have to kick somebody out and oh my God, I think we were the first team who had Black Aces for the whole tournament.

«We had like seven of them. We had one guy we called the captain of the Black Aces, so he was the Gold Ace. He hadn't played the whole tournament, and then he got called up for the final. They couldn't practice with us. So they were just pretty much for weeks sitting on a couch just trying to bring the atmosphere, but he got called up, and he did an unbelievable job.»

However, the Captain of the Black Aces would eventually get a shot to play, but remains unnamed.

But looking at the lineup revision, could it have been Jan Scotka #24 who got a shot to make an impact?

Regardless, sacrifice is a team effort, as Pasta details they have the next-man-up mentality as well.

Source: IIHF.com, Team Roster
Team Roster

Source: NESN.com
What Winning Gold Medal Meant To Bruins Star David Pastrnak