Pastrnak takes us back to where it all began

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Dorin Canaday
September 19, 2022 (0:40)

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NHL players come from many different countries and started playing hockey for various reasons.

In partnership with Bauer Hockey, the NHL gives us a look at where it all began for Boston Bruins' superstar David Pastrnak.

Pastrnak was born on May 25th, 1996, in Havirov, Czech Republic. His father, Milan, was also a hockey player, which is the ultimate reason why David chose it, but it was never forced on him:

''I was a sports addict, so I played a bunch of sports growing up ... My dad played hockey. He never forced me to play hockey, he just told me to do what I want, if I wanted to play any other sports, it was good with him ... [he told me] 'If you ever want advice from me, I'm always there, the door's always open' ... That's the main thing. I was never pushed to do anything ... I just fell in love with [hockey] on my own.''

Sadly, when David was just 17 years old, his father passed away in 2013 after a lengthy battle with cancer. He cites this as the main reason he began practicing and training even harder, hoping to make it as a hockey player for his father.

Pasta discusses how he remembers his mom driving him to 6:00 am practice every morning from when he was six to nine years old. That's the unique thing about professional athletes, how much work and dedication that their parents put into making sure they had a career.

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