Bruins David Pastrnak Officially Boycotts the NHL's Newest Event and He's Likely Not the Only One

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Dawson Mckenzie
February 6, 2024 (11:34)

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After the NHL announced its newest event over the weekend, it rubbed some players the wrong way, notably David Pastrnak, who has stated he will be boycotting.

NHL Announces 4 Nations Tournament For Next Season

The NHL made a splash over the weekend with some huge announcements regarding international hockey. Not only will NHL players be able to attend the Olympics in 2026, but the NHL is also bringing back the World Cup of Hockey. However, the full World Cup won't be ready for next year, so a modified 4 Nations Tournament will take it's place.

Here are the proposed rules and the setup for the 4 Nations Tournament as reported by Elliotte Friedman.

No All-Star Game next season. Tournament rules:

This is obviously great news, however, it did rub some players the wrong way since only Canada, USA, Finland, and Sweden will be able to participate, and the games are taking the place of next year's NHL All-Star game.

David Pastrnak to Boycott 4 Nations Tournament After Country is Snubbed

Obviously, with the quick turnaround time in coming up with the 4 Nations tournament, some countries had to be snubbed from participation. One of those is David Pastrnak's home Country of Czechia. As a result, he released a strong statement that he would not be watching the tournament.

"It's a huge disappointment. Definitely not happy about it," Pastrnak said. "I understand that it's a quick turnaround. It's next year. They probably didn't have much time to make it a bigger tournament."

He added, "But Czech isn't there. So it's always a lot of players left out, so I'm not gonna watch the tournament, to be honest. So just happy that the Olympics got accepted. Yeah, (it) definitely stings a little bit."

It makes sense that Pastrnak is upset, as he is one of the NHL's best players and he won't be able to participate in a tournament that a lot of NHLers look forward to. However, the NHL is doing their best to get best-on-best international hockey back on the menu, and Pasta will get his chance soon.

As seen on House of Hockey - "David Pastrnak Officially Boycotts Gary Bettman's Newest Event"