Canadian defenceman Ian White isn't sure if his neck was injured by a hit into the boards or during the flight to Switzerland. (Misha Japaridze/Associated Press)

Canadian defenceman Ian White has pulled out of the men's world hockey championship, citing a sore neck, which has led to concussion-like symptoms.

“I went head first into the wall a couple of games ago, that might have been enough to tweak it,” White, who isn't sure when he suffered the injury, said Tuesday as he said goodbye to his teammates as they boarded a bus for Bern, Switzerland, for Thursday’s quarter-final game against Latvia.

White, who plays for the Toronto Maple Leafs, also said he may have somehow injured his neck on the flight to Switzerland a couple of weeks ago.

“A tweak here, a tweak there, who knows? It could’ve even happened on the flight over here," he said. "I can’t pinpoint exactly when it happened. It might have been something lingering for a while, or something that just crept up.”

“We are just going to err on the side of caution and just make sure it’s taken care of. It’s nothing serious.”

White left in the first period of Sunday’s game against Norway and wasn’t dressed for Monday’s match against Finland.

His departure leaves Canada with seven defencemen and it actually helps resolve an issue for head coach Lindy Ruff. He had complained earlier about having too many defencemen and the difficulty of giving them enough ice time to keep sharp.

He now has seven defenceman to juggle, and in Monday’s game against Finland, Luke Schenn of the Maple Leafs was the odd man out. He saw one minute 58 seconds of ice time.

White said he will consult with the Maple Leafs' doctors when he gets back to Toronto and will have the summer to recuperate.