October 03, 2016
Radko Gudas’ preseason debut was not a lengthy one. The hard-hitting Czech defenseman, who had been sitting out with a right wrist injury, was given a five-minute boarding major and game misconduct for this hit on the New York Rangers’ Jimmy Vesey (Remember him?) late in the first period:
(GIFs via Sons of Penn)
After the hit, a scrum ensued, with the Rangers’ Dylan McIlrath also eventually receiving a game misconduct. Vesey was down for quite a bit, but he was eventually able to return to the ice.
Retired NHL referee Kerry Fraser, who sure knows a lot more about these situations than I do, said on Twitter that he wouldn’t have assessed Gudas a major penalty:
Radko Gudas received boarding major & automatic game misconduct as result of injury to face/head of Rangers player in spite of turn 2 boards
— Kerry Fraser (@kfraserthecall) October 3, 2016
@ViktorAllvin No, because of the quick turn square 2 boards just prior to impact. I believe the injury had a major bearing on end result.
— Kerry Fraser (@kfraserthecall) October 3, 2016
It remained to be seen if the NHL agrees, but as is usually the case, Fraser was spot on. Gudas won't face any supplemental discipline:
DPS says not according to the rule book. I was told last night there would be no supplemental discipline. https://t.co/jbXvgalsoa
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) October 4, 2016
Gudas does have a history with the Department of Player Safety, as he served a three-game suspension last season for a hit on Ottawa's Mika Zibanejad. If the 26-year-old defenseman did miss time to start the year, it could have had ramifications on who made the Flyers roster out of training camp. Remember, Brayden Schenn will serve a three-game suspension to begin the season for a hit on Washington’s T.J. Oshie in last year’s playoffs.
"I'm not going to jump too far forward," Dave Hakstol said about any potential roster changes. "You look at the play, it's such a hard play for a defenseman. When you're going in with full momentum and a player holds, pulls up, slows up, turns, it's a very difficult situation for a defending defenseman in that situation."
Gudas was not made available to the media after the game.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
