Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025 | 2 a.m.
Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo was the only player out of the 93 selected to compete in the 4 Nations Face-Off to withdraw from the tournament voluntarily.
The veteran defenseman has represented Canada in multiple competitions, winning a World Junior Championship, World Championship, Olympic Gold Medal and World Cup.
On Jan. 26, he announced he was withdrawing from the 4 Nations Face-Off due to an aliment and to focus on the rest of the Golden Knights’ season.
However, Pietrangelo did not miss any of Vegas’ seven remaining games before the tournament break.
Pietrangelo’s decision to withdraw but continue to play for his club received mixed responses from fans saying Pietrangelo “hates Canada.”
While many were critical of his decision, Pietrangelo returned to the ice on Tuesday for Golden Knights practice and said the time off helped heel his aliment.
“It worked out well,” Pietrangelo said. “I got some good dad time, too. It was more important (to stay in Vegas). We were on the road, so it was nice to spend some time with family, take a little break and reset.”
While Pietrangelo said it did “suck” getting back on the ice due to the readjustment from having time off, the primary focus has been building on fundamentals.
“We didn’t forget how to play,” Pietrangelo said. “The biggest thing is the reset of the fundamentals. We’ll do some video here in the next couple of days just to get our brains kind of back into it.”
The break didn’t just benefit Pietrangelo but also a handful of other players who were dealing with minor injuries.
Tanner Pearson missed Vegas’ last three games with an upper-body injury. Victor Olofsson was listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury following the game against Boston on Feb. 8.
Both were present at Tuesday’s practice in full-contact jerseys.
The Golden Knights won’t have a full practice until Friday at the earliest when the 4 Nations Face-Off concludes. Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin are playing for the United States and Mark Stone and Adin Hill are playing for Canada.
Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy is also part of the Canada coaching staff. However, until Cassidy returns, Golden Knights assistant coach John Stevens has been left in charge back in Vegas.
Stevens said that he’s used to coaching without fluctuating numbers at practice due to his experience coaching in the AHL. He was the head coach of the Philadelphia Phantoms from 2000 to 2006.
“When there’s a full group of guys out there, the pace is higher and the energy is higher,” Stevens said. “Today (Tuesday), to be honest with you, we were just looking to get them moving, get a lot of touches and get some of the rust off their hands and their feet.”