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
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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Dustin Nelson is the News Editor for The Hockey Writers. He’s a contributor to Hockey Prospectus, Hockey Wilderness, and writes a column for Rotowire. He’s also written for Gone Puck Wild, Wild Xtra, InDigest, Electric Literature, The Rumpus, Tiny Mix Tapes, Prefix Magazine & other publications. Have a tip? Email him at dlukenelson[at]gmail[dot]com.