NEW YORK — Anaheim Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas has been suspended five games for his knee-on-knee hit that injured Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews and sidelined him for the rest of the season.
The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced the suspension after a phone hearing with Gudas earlier Friday. Because it was a conference call and not “in-person” — now on Zoom — the ban was limited to a maximum of five games.
It’s Gudas’ fifth suspension in 14 seasons in the league and his first since 2019. He forfeits $104,167 in salary and will miss games against Ottawa, Montreal, Philadelphia, Utah and Buffalo.
The 35-year-old Czech is eligible to return March 24 at Vancouver. In first place in the Pacific Division with 17 games left, the Ducks are attempting to end a seven-year playoff drought dating to their most recent appearance in 2018.
Toronto a little over an hour before the length of Gudas' suspension was unveiled said Matthews had a torn medial collateral ligament and a bruised quadriceps muscle.
Matthews' agent, Judd Moldaver, said in a statement he was very disappointed and shocked about the ruling, given the severity of the play.
“A phone hearing and five games is just laughable and preposterous,” said Moldaver, who is the executive VP at THE.TEAM agency. “That there was no further discipline is a reckless and ridiculous position for player safety. This decision results in a further loss of confidence in the disciplinary process for all players. Players and fans deserve better. The player safety department should be suspended.”
Player safety recently also opted for a phone hearing with Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin for slashing Buffalo's Rasmus Dahlin. Malkin also was suspended five games for swinging his stick at Dahlin.
With just over four minutes left in the second period of the teams' game Thursday night, Gudas' left knee made contact with Matthews' left knee and sent the 28-year-old American star to the ice in pain.
Gudas was given a 5-minute major penalty and ejected. Matthews needed assistance from an athletic trainer and a teammate to leave the rink, and he did not return.
Toronto coach Craig Berube called it a dirty play, and forward Matthew Knies said Gudas has “done a few of those before in his career.” Anaheim coach Joel Quenneville defended Gudas, saying there was no premeditation and that it was the result of reflexes.
Gudas, a bruising defender who is 6-foot and 208 pounds, was also involved in the play that knocked Canada's Sidney Crosby out of the Olympics, while representing Czechia. He was not penalized, and opponents did not publicly take issue with Gudas' role in that situation.
Although he was not considered a repeat offender under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, which counts supplemental discipline over the past two years, Gudas has a long rap sheet from earlier in his career. He was suspended four times between 2015-19: three games for an illegal check to the head, six for interference, 10 for slashing and two for high-sticking.
Adding this time, Gudas has been suspended for 26 games and docked $855,527 in salary.
Matthews last month captained the U.S. to its first men's hockey gold medal at the Olympics since 1980. From Arizona, he's in his 10th season in the league and leads the Maple Leafs in goals with 27.
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