On Sunday, the Vegas Golden Knights announced that Alex Pietrangelo had withdrawn from the 4 Nations Face-Off Tournament to tend to an injury.
“It sucks,” said Pietrangelo on the decision to withdraw. “I mean, representing your country’s an honor. My kids were excited, and my wife was excited, but it is what it is. Sometimes, you’ve got to make tough decisions.”
Pietrangelo is no stranger to international competitions. He’s represented Canada before and knows what it’s like to win with the maple leaf on his chest. Pietrangelo didn’t make this decision lightly.
“It wasn’t an immediate decision,” he said. “I’ve been dealing with something for a while now, and I just think, talking with the team and the doctors, it gives me the best chance to stay on the ice, healthy, especially in the second half of the year. I mean, you have nine days off, and if I need to take more days before the first game after the break, that’s a long period of time to get some rest and to kind of get rid of what I’m dealing with.”
Pietrangelo has managed to play through his injury thus far but is prioritizing his recovery. Withdrawing from the 4 Nations Face-Off Tournament will give him almost two weeks of rest. And even though representing Canada on the world’s biggest stage would be an honor, he’s got his heart set on a more significant challenge.
“Like I say, it gives me an opportunity to come out of the break healthy and get ready for hopefully what is a long push here going into the playoffs.”
Bruce Cassidy, the head coach of the Golden Knights, is part of Team Canada’s coaching staff and was asked to comment on the situation.
“As [someone who is] on the coaching staff for Team Canada, it’s a bummer,” said Bruce Cassidy to the media. “He’s a good player and excels in those types of environments. As the coach of the Vegas Golden Knights, [this is] an opportunity for him to rest and recover a little bit; he’s been playing through a little bit of an injury here… Should be better off for it, getting rest as opposed to playing. Tough decision; he has to make that call, and he did, and we all have to live with it.”
Cassidy didn’t give a definitive answer when asked if Pietrangelo’s injury was something to monitor heading into the break.
“I’m going to leave that up to him. It’s something he can clearly play with, and has, but I don’t know if he can do it forever. At some point, it needs to be addressed, and he chose this time because we have the time off. Organization comes first; he understands that. That’s a decision he made. It’s too bad. He’s playing good hockey for us playing through it, so he’ll be even better coming out of it.”
