The disappointment in Pavel Zacha’seyes was unmistakable as he spoke after Wednesday morning’s Bruins practice about being forced to pull out of the 2026 Winter Olympics due to an injury.
Zacha had the hotels booked and the travel plans for his family locked in for them to watch the center skate for Team Czechia, but an injury in the final few games ahead of the Olympic break put things into question. The 28-year-old actually didn’t think the injury was a big deal and thought he’d still be able to go to Milan Cortina with teammate David Pastrnakto compete for Team Czechia, but things plateaued in his recovery after a few days and the injury timeline became an enemy rather than a friend.
That’s when Zacha, the Boston Bruins and the Czech Hockey Federation all made the difficult “mutual decision” to leave Zacha behind and allow him to rest and recover for the remaining six weeks of the NHL regular season once hockey resumes next week.
“It was really frustrating. Two things you are really looking forward to was the outdoor game and the Olympics, especially in the middle of the season,” said Zacha. “Making the decision of not going was really hard. It makes it even harder to watch the games knowing that I’m not over there and can’t experience it.
“It’s not easy. But on the other hand, I’m not missing many regular-season games [for the Bruins] because of the break, so it’s good that I had some time to slowly come back, which is nice. I thought right away that I was going to be going because I was getting better, but then [the recovery] just got stagnant. For three days it was getting better and then for five or six days it got worse, and with the timeline after a week-and-a-half then I knew it just wasn’t going to happen. That made it even worse because after the first three or four days it seemed like we were on the right track. That was frustrating, but there’s nothing you can do about it. Health is the number one thing and I couldn’t perform at a 100 percent level at all.”
Pavel Zacha said the decision to not go to the Olympics was a "mutual" decision after consulting with both the Czech National Team and the Bruins. Timeline didn't add up after getting injured on Jan. 29. "Even watching the games now, it's hard to watch a little bit." pic.twitter.com/BTschcESwo— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) February 18, 2026
Zacha admitted he couldn’t watch the Olympics during the first few days of the Winter Games because the emotional wound was still so fresh, but he’d begun watching the Czechia games ahead of them getting eliminated by Team Canada in the semifinals during a wild overtime contest in Milan.
“In the long run, having some time off is going to be good for our [Bruins] season,” admitted Zacha. “I am trying to look at in a positive light. The first couple of days it was tough to think about this positively at all, but on the other hand, for the team, it’s going to be good for me to have some rest.”
Essentially, both Zacha and Elias Lindholmwere in the same exact spot, suffering injuries in the days leading up to the Winter Olympics. Lindholm ended up recovering to the point where he could compete for Team Sweden, though the two-way center has been in and out of the lineup for a Swedish team that was eliminated by the United States in another thrilling overtime game on Wednesday afternoon.
“I think the last couple of days [Zacha] has been here getting treatment and been on the right track, so we hope it’s going to continue like this so he can return next week. Timing is everything and unfortunately timing was not on his side,” said Marco Sturm. “Him and Elias were in exactly the same boat and we didn’t know if they could go or not go.
“Pav just couldn’t so it’s very unfortunate. I know he was very bummed. You only have those opportunities once in a while. So we feel for him, but I think he’s just happy he’s here right now and that he’s feeling better.”
The shame of it for both Zacha and Czechia is that maybe, just maybe, he could have been the difference-maker for a group of Czech players that came so close to upsetting the Canadians in a highly entertaining game ahead of the medal rounds.
Instead, it was Mitch Marnerknifing through the Czechs during the 3-on-3 overtime to push Canada into the semifinals and send Czechia back to their NHL outposts to get ready for the season outside of Olympic medal contention.
Imagine letting Mitch Marner leave your team pic.twitter.com/uR6qLEfaly— Pardon My Take (@PardonMyTake) February 18, 2026
But now Zacha will instead focus on the remainder of the season for the Bruins, where he’s enjoyed a very strong season with 15 goals and 37 points in 54 games while centering an effective second line of Casey Mittelstadt and Viktor Arvidsson for most of the season.
“I think we’ve been making good progress here and taking good steps,” said Zacha, who was wearing a no-contact jersey during Wednesday’s opening Bruins practice coming out of the Olympic break. “Yesterday, I skated by myself, and today I skated with the team so we’re on a good track to coming back.
“It’s great that we’re in the spot that we wanted to be, and we have something to fight for. Everyone is excited to come back and give their all. After last year and missing the playoffs, it’s going to be really exciting [to play] in the final run.”
In the long run, the Bruins won’t have to worry too much about the wear and tear on most of their players, as guys like Hampus Lindholm, Elias Lindholm, Jeremy Swayman and Joonas Korpisalowere in and out of the lineups for their teams, and Pastrnak is able to return to North America without any injury after a stellar performance against the Canadians.
• Team USA survived Sweden with a 2-1 overtime win on Wednesday that was impressive in how well-played and smartly executed it was in a low-scoring victory over a talented, good-skating Sweden team, but the Americans play it safe with a lead like they did in the third period against the Swedes, then they will be Olympic road kill in a gold medal match-up. Team USA was happy to simply dump the puck in over the red line and change players without any consistent push or offensive threat, and it truthfully almost cost them in a game where it goes to a 50/50 proposition during a 3-on-3 overtime.
It was good fortune that Quinn Hughes stepped up for the overtime goal, but a reminder that USA's rugged, heavy lineup isn't going to post big offensive numbers once the pace quickens, as it did against Sweden, and as it is very much likely to against Canada if they can make it that far.
American Hero Quinn Hughes: “I love the U.S.” “It’s the greatest country in the world. Happy to represent it here with these guys and it’s really special.”pic.twitter.com/OwVEhRjWSf— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) February 19, 2026
None of that is to overlook Juraj Slafkovsky and the Slovakian team that awaits Team USA next, of course. Interesting to note that Charlie McAvoy dumped his bubble for the quarter-final game against Sweden and was a wrecking ball physically while exhibiting the same heavy, thumping style that he employed during the 4 Nations Faceoff last season. Bruins officials just have to hope he comes back in one piece against the physical toll exerted during the Olympics, but this tournament is a good reminder of what McAvoy can look like when he's surrounded by a higher level of talent than is currently on the Bruins roster.
For an NHL organization, that is good news for a team that could have sent double-digit numbers of players to the Olympics, but instead will have players like a refreshed Zacha now that he’s over the disappointment of missing a Winter Games experience that might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him.
