Radek Faksa Will Not Play for Czechs on Monday

Dallas Stars forward Radek Faksa will be held out of Monday’s Team Czech Republic game against Team Europe, the team announced Monday morning. Faksa is sidelined with what they are terming an “upper-body” injury, a fan favorite designation.

The source of the injury isn’t clear, but Faksa did take a big hit from Canada’s Ryan Getzlaf in the first period of Saturday’s World Cup opener.

Hodně štěstí dneska borci!!!????????????????????????
Good luck today boys!!!???????????? @narodnitym pic.twitter.com/pub9glh9gt

— Radek Faksa (@RadekFaksa) September 19, 2016

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The Czechs have not yet said who will replace Faksa on the roster for Monday’s game. Michael Birner was the scratched forward on Saturday. However, assistant coach and former NHLer Vinny Prospal told NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti that it’s a game-time decision and the team may instead decide to run with seven defensemen. That would mean that Tomas Kundratek gets the nod instead of Birner.

https://twitter.com/NHLPete/status/777914026277871616

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