Radko Gudas’ hit on Auston Matthews started a fresh debate among NHL players and analysts about the league’s process of protecting its players and the NHL Department of Player Safety’s punishment metrics. Gudas was suspended for five games for his actions, while Matthews is set to miss the rest of the season due to a Grade 3 MCL tear.
The Anaheim Ducks defenseman returned to the Ducks lineup for their game against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. He admitted to his wrongdoing while stating he had no intention to hurt the Toronto Maple Leafs captain.
“I really hate the way it ended up, the point of contact,” Gudas told reporters after the Ducks’ practice in Vancouver. “I’m not a fan of that. I never want to injure anybody out there.
“It’s a hard-fought game. It’s just, yeah, I never want to go out there and hurt anybody. I feel terrible about the outcome. I just committed to the play, and unfortunately that was the point of contact.”
The incident occurred at 4:17 of the second period in the Leafs-Ducks game on March 12. Matthews received the puck in front of the Ducks’ net. Gudas charged at him to block the shot. The Leafs forward sidestepped him to avoid contact, but Gudas kept his knee out and deliberately tackled Matthews, leading to his departure from the game.
Gudas revealed that he had a conversation with Matthews following the game, which wasn’t pleasant for either of the players.
“It’s very hard to, really hard, to keep in conversation,” Gudas said. “Just wanted to make sure that (he knew) it was not my intention to hurt anybody.”
Gudas’ five-game suspension was the first since February 2019, when he was suspended for two games, while with the Philadelphia Flyers, for high-sticking Tampa Bay Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov. He had received three separate suspensions during his Flyers tenure, most prominent in November 2017, for slashing Winnipeg Jets’ Mathieu Perreault in the neck.
Radko Gudas hoping to grow as a player after suspension
Radko Gudas said that he respected the league’s decision to suspend him. He further stated his willingness to stay clean and improve his decision-making abilities to avoid risking anyone else.
“I’ve tried to stay on the good side. I stayed for a long time, over seven years since my last incident. So I’m doing everything in my power to stay away (from suspensions), to stay on the right side, to play hard, but be on the good side of it.
“I think every player needs to develop as his career goes on, (get) better and improve in every aspect of his game to stay in the league and stay on the top of those levels. So yeah, definitely development, learning, a lot of stuff goes into it.”
In Gudas’ absence, the Ducks went 3-1-1 in the five games. Heading into the game against the Canucks, he had 13 points in 52 games this season with an overall minus-1 rating. He has recorded 156 hits and 82 blocked shots.
Edited by R. Nikhil Parshy
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