PRAGUE (AP) — David Krejci is out of the World Cup of Hockey because the Czech needs more time to recover from hip surgery.
The Czech Ice Hockey Association said the Boston Bruins center will be replaced by Roman Cervenka of the Swiss club HC Fribourg-Gotteron for the tournament, which starts Sept. 17 in Toronto.
“David Krejci was supposed to be one of our key players, but his health condition makes it impossible for him to participate,” Czech Republic coach Josef Jandac said in a Saturday statement. “We have to respect that.”
The 30-year-old Cervenka played twice at the Olympics for the Czechs in 2010 and 2014 and helped the team win gold at the 2010 World Championship.
In his lone NHL 2012-13 season, Cervenka had nine goals and eight assists in his 39 games for Calgary Flames.
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