Suspension Sunday: Gudas Gets 10 Games, Watson Gets Two
Following a dangerous slash on the Winnipeg Jets’ Mathieu Perreault, Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Radko Gudas was suspended for ten games per the NHL’s Department of Player Safety. A video of the incident, including an explanation and rationale for the suspension was released as well. TSN’s Frank Seravalli tweets that the suspension will cost Gudas $408,538.60.
This isn’t the first time that Gudas finds himself on the wrong side of the NHL’s law. In 2016, Gudas was suspended for six games following a vicious hit on Boston’s Austin Czarnik. In December of 2015, he was suspended for three games after head hunting Mika Zibanejad.
Ejections and misconducts have been a staple of his play, and the ten game suspension is a loud message from the NHL’s Safety Department. With a game that is under the microscope for head hits in a CTE aware world, Gudas’ two-handed slash to Perreault’s head, who has a history of concussions, was an easy call for a long suspension. While Gudas claimed it was “accidental,” the department of player safety indicated that as repeat offender under the terms of the CBA, he was suspended for ten games.
There are some who feel the suspension wasn’t heavy enough, in light of Gudas’ history targeting the head. If Gudas doesn’t learn from this suspension, next time may be even longer, more costly for the wallet and possibly his employment.
- In other suspension news, the Nashville Predators’ Austin Watson received a two-game suspension from the NHL Department of Player Safety for his hit on Colorado’s Dominic Toninato. Video of the hit and explanation can be found here. Watson hit Toninato after the Avs’ forward chipped the puck out of the zone. His back turned and in a defenseless position, Tonianato was boarded by Watson and because of no prior history of suspensions, fines, or unsportsmanlike hits, Watson received a two-game suspension.
Austin Watson To Face Player Safety Hearing
It looks like Radko Gudas won’t be the only player speaking with the NHL Department of Player Safety today. The league has announced that Nashville Predators forward Austin Watson also has a disciplinary date today. Watson was the perpetrator of a hard check from behind on Colorado Avalanche rookie Dominic Toninato yesterday.
As you can see in the video, Watson hit Toninanto right on the numbers with some real force and may have even gotten his elbow up in Toninato’s head area as well. The hit occurred midway through the first period in what was Toninato’s NHL debut. Watson was given a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct, leaving his team short-handed for much of the game, though the Predators still won 5-2. Toninato missed much of the game, but did return later on in the third period.
A notably physical player, Watson has nevertheless never been suspended in his NHL career. Also, unlike Gudas, the league requested only a phone hearing with Watson, meaning that a suspension – if any – will be less than five games. It may be the first major infraction for Watson, but given the ferocity of the check and the league’s efforts to clean up the game, it seems likely that Watson will end up with a suspension of some sort.
Radko Gudas To Have Phone Hearing Sunday
There is finally a concrete date for decision-making in regards to a developing story over the past two days. After yet another questionable dangerous play from Radko Gudas on Thursday night, the big Philadelphia Flyers defenseman has been on track for his third career suspension and second already this season. The NHL Department of Player Safety had offered Gudas an in-person hearing, however an announcement was made late last night that he has waived this right and has instead opted for a phone hearing which will take place Sunday.
The significance of the choices on both sides are two-fold. Player Safety may only suspend a player for five or more games following an in-person hearing, or at least if such a hearing is offered. While Gudas has waived his right to an in-person hearing, that does not change the fact that he may miss significant time due to his latest transgression. If history is an indicator, an offer for an in-person hearing tends to simply be a procedural way of informing a player that a long suspension is on its way. However, Gudas himself is essentially tacking on an extra game to his absence. By waiving his in-person hearing for the alternative, a phone hearing Sunday, he is not allowed to play for the Flyers until that phone hearing has been completed. That means that Gudas will be ineligible to play in Philly’s matinee match-up against the Calgary Flames tonight, a game in which the Flyers are looking to stay above .500.
Will this latest punishment for Gudas finally get through to him? It may be difficult for a player whose career has been built on physicality to suddenly clean up his act. Since the notorious checker entered the league in 2012-13, he is eighth overall in hits and second among defenseman with 1097. Per game, his 3.8 hits puts him in a class with only Matt Martin, Cal Clutterbuck, and Mark Borowiecki. Yet, only Martin has more penalty minutes in that time span than Gudas’ 12th-ranked 490 and Martin’s total includes 54 fighting majors – which do not leave the team short-handed – to only 94 minors, while Gudas is much more minor-heavy: 129 to 18. For all intents and purposes, Gudas is called for penalties more often than any of the other top hitters in the NHL in his career, and that’s not even counting game misconducts. Without much of an offensive game, it is clear that Gudas owes much of his $3.5MM salary to his physicality, but he is wandering down a dangerous road if he thinks he can continue to be the reckless checker he is now and remain well-paid or even employed in the NHL.
Suspension Could Be Coming For Radko Gudas
Friday: The Department of Player Safety has offered Gudas an in-person hearing, meaning they retain the right to suspend him for more than five games. The hearing does not have a date or time as of yet, but John Shannon of Sportsnet reports that Gudas cannot play for the Flyers until he has the hearing.
Thursday: It might be two days in a row that the NHL’s Department of Player Safety needs to hand out a substantial suspension, as Radko Gudas has been thrown out of the Philadelphia-Winnipeg game tonight. Gudas brought his stick down hard on a grounded Mathieu Perreault, and was given a five minute major for slashing and game misconduct penalty.
Should Gudas receive additional discipline, it wouldn’t be the first time. The Philadelphia Flyers defenseman has received six game misconducts in his career, but had avoided suspension until 2015-16. He’s since been suspended twice, once for an illegal check to the head of Mika Zibanejad and once for interference on Austin Czarnik. The latest suspension was for six games, and since he’s a repeat offender the league could come down hard on him for this incident.
Gudas has seen his minutes reduced this season with the young crop of Flyers defenders taking some more responsibility this season. Should he miss a long period of time, it would be interesting to see who Philadelphia would insert into the lineup. Mark Alt is up with the club as the seventh defender, but Samuel Morin could potentially be recalled from the minor leagues.
Philadelphia Calls Up Samuel Morin
Given the rash of recent injuries on the Philadelphia blue line, it came as no surprise when the Flyers announced this evening that they had recalled rookie defenseman Samuel Morin from the AHL’s Adirondack Phantoms. Morin is expected to suit up for the team when they host the Arizona Coyotes tomorrow night.
In Saturday night’s contest against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Shayne Gostisbehere left early with injury and his status is still unknown. With Andrew MacDonald out long-term with a lower body injury, an extended absence for Gostisbehere would have left the Flyers down two starters with only five defenseman on the roster. Morin rounds that number back up to six and provides Philly with another capable defenseman.
However, the Flyers may need to think about looking around for another defenseman, if they aren’t already. The “future is now” mentality may be exciting, but Philadelphia will square off with the Coyotes tomorrow with three rookies – Morin, Robert Hagg, and Travis Sanheim – and 20-year-old Ivan Provorov, a severe lack of experience on the back end. Add in just two stay-at-home defenders in Radko Gudas and Brandon Manning as their veteran support, and Philadelphia could benefit from another body on the blue line. With four waiver-exempt assets, the Flyers have the flexibility to add another defenseman without causing themselves any sort of roster crunch down the road.
Eastern Notes: Fast, Bruins, Koekkoek, Morin
The New York Rangers tweeted that head coach Alain Vigneault announced injured forward Jesper Fast will play tonight vs. the New Jersey Devils. Fast, who had hip surgery on June 5, missed all of training camp and the first five games of the season so far this year. He was cleared for contact last week, and completed on-ice skills testing before practice and had the fourth-highest score. The 25-year-old wing scored six goals and 15 assists in 68 games last year, which was disappointing after a promising second-season in which he put up a 30-point campaign. Regardless, his work as a bottom-six player has been missed. The Rangers have come out of the gate slowly this year, as the team has started with a 1-4 record and have lost two straight.
- Joe Haggerty of NBC Sports writes that the Bruins, who have struggled both offensively and defensively to start the year and find themselves as 1-2, are attempting to simplify their offense for their game tonight against the Arizona Coyotes. Haggerty writes the team had the most success recently in the third period against Colorado when they posted two goals in that period. “The third period [in Colorado] we scored two goals and I don’t think we did anything spectacular other than win pucks, go to the net and be belligerent there. If that’s what it takes to get going, that’s what it takes sometimes to score goals in this league,” said head coach Bruce Cassidy.
- Tampa Bay Times’ Joe Smith writes that despite the Lightning’s logjam of eight defenders on the roster, the team is slowly giving more playing time to Slater Koekkoek. After he received two healthy scratches and playing in only 3:09 in his season debut Monday, Koekkoek got 9:44 in playing time on Thursday’s game, rewarding Tampa Bay with two goals. Despite playing under 10 minutes, Koekkoek still got more playing time than Mikhail Sergachev (5:22) and is starting to earn the coaching staff’s trust and could see another increase in time tonight when they play the St. Louis Blues.
- The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor breaks down (subscription required), why Philadelphia Flyers rookie Samuel Morin was sent down to Lehigh Valley. Many people were upset that Morin was sent down, because they feel he is NHL-ready now. The scribe breaks down some of the criteria of whether he belongs in the NHL, pointing out that he is physically ready for the NHL at 6-foot-6, 202 pounds and he has had success in the AHL so far with two solid seasons there. He then looks whether Morin showed off enough skill in training camp to deserve a spot before finally analyzing whether he is better than another defenseman on the roster, which is where O’Connor points out the problem. He writes that while Morin is right there, he didn’t prove to be better than the other two rookies in Robert Hagg and Travis Sanheim and is not ready to beat out veterans like Radko Gudas or Andrew MacDonald.
Dalton Prout Suspended Two Games For Interference
The New Jersey Devils will be without defenseman Dalton Prout for the next few days, as he has received a two game suspension from the league for his hit on Radko Gudas last night. The Department of Player Safety’s video explanation is clear in why Prout was both kicked out of the game and now suspended:
Prout comes off the bench, makes no attempt to join the play in any manner and instead targets a vulnerable player for the sole purpose of exacting retribution for an earlier play.
Prout, acquired at the deadline from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Kyle Quincey, was previously suspended for sucker punching Nikita Kucherov in a game last March. That time, he got just a single game but is now considered a repeat offender. While the league admits this incident wasn’t particularly violent, Gudas isn’t even looking up when he gets hit and could have easily suffered an injury.
Though it doesn’t matter much for the Devils as they struggle through the end of the 2016-17 season, Prout will now be on the list with two suspensions and under an even closer magnifying glass going forward. As he tries to stay relevant in the NHL, that history will make it even more difficult to play the physical brand of hockey he is known for.
Dalton Prout To Face Player Safety Hearing
The NHL Department of Player Safety has scheduled a meeting with New Jersey Devils defenseman Dalton Prout. Following the physical blue liner’s big hit on Philadelphia Flyers counterpart Radko Gudas in Saturday’s game, Player Safety announced that Prout would face a hearing on Monday. The hit in question was high and came well after Gudas had moved the puck and resulted in a scrum between the teams. Prout was given a pair of major penalties for interference and fighting and a game misconduct.
This isn’t the first time that Prout has had trouble with the NHL law. The former Columbus Blue Jacket defender was suspended one game last season for a sucker punch on Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov. The two incidents share a common theme: going too far to avenge or protect a teammate by injuring an unsuspecting opponent. Kucherov was the third man in on a fight and was roughing up Nick Foligno when Prout came in and blindsided him with a shot to the face. Similarly, Prout’s hit on Gudas yesterday came after the big defenseman laid a massive hit on Devils’ rookie John Quenneville. Just as Prout got a suspension in 2015-16, he will likely get yet another this year for this more recent incident.
Interestingly, Prout’s hit was not the only questionable one of the game. Following Prout’s ejection, Flyers’ enforcer Dale Weise was called for a retaliatory hit on Devils’ star Kyle Palmieri not long after. Weise was also ejected from the game, but it was announced that he would not face any further discipline. Given that Palmieri was not involved with the any of the previous aggressions, it seems strange that such blatant targeting of a talented player would not warrant the same scrutiny as Prout’s initial infraction.
Snapshots: Neuvirth, Gudas, Jerabek, Karlsson, Harpur
The Flyers received some good news regarding goaltender Michal Neuvirth today as he was discharged from the hospital, less than 24 hours after collapsing on the ice in the first period against the Devils on Saturday. GM Ron Hextall told reporters, including CSN Philly’s Tim Panaccio, that all tests came back normal. Neuvirth has been battling a respiratory infection for more than a week and it’s believed that his collapse was largely attributable to that.
Hextall noted that the netminder will be re-evaluated by team doctors during their off day on Monday before making any further determination on his status.
Still with the Flyers, they will be without defenceman Radko Gudas tonight against the Rangers, the team announced via Twitter. He’s listed as day-to-day with an upper body injury that was also sustained last night against New Jersey.
Other news from around the hockey world:
- Czech defenseman Jakub Jerabek is mulling over multiple NHL offers and will make a decision on where to sign over the next week, agent Allan Walsh reports (Twitter link). The 25 year old recently wrapped his first season in the KHL with Vityaz Podolsk where he led the team in points by a blueliner with 34 (5-29-34) in 59 games. Jerabek suited up for the Czechs in the 2016 World Championships and should be a strong candidate to play again in the 2017 edition which kicks off next month.
- Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson is highly doubtful to play in tomorrow’s game against Detroit, notes Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link). While it has been believed that Karlsson’s lower body issue isn’t too serious, the fact that he appears set to miss his third straight game starts to call that diagnosis into question. Earlier today, Ottawa was pushed into a Wild Card spot for the time being as a result of Boston’s victory over Chicago. Between his issue and the injury to Cody Ceci last night, the Sens announced via Twitter that they have recalled blueliner Ben Harpur from AHL Binghamton. The rearguard has 28 points in 63 minor league games this season while being held off the scoresheet in his lone NHL contest in 2016-17.
Gustav Nyquist Receives Six Game Suspension
Bob McKenzie of TSN was first to report on Twitter that Detroit Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist has been given a six-game suspension for his high stick on the Minnesota Wild’s Jared Spurgeon this weekend. This comes after Nyquist waived his right to an in-person hearing that came with an expected minimum of six games. Because the Red Wings have a mandated bye-week starting a week from today, he’ll be eligible to return March 4th against the Edmonton Oilers.
Chris Johnston of Sportsnet tweets that it will cost Nyquist $158,333.33 in salary, though that amount will still count against the Red Wings’ cap. 
His suspension comes on the heels of Antoine Vermette receiving a ten-game ban for a much less violent stick infraction. That incident came with a automatic minimum suspension of 10 games, because it involved an official. The six game suspension is tied for the second longest suspension this season with Radko Gudas for his late, high hit on Austin Czarnik back in October. Gudas was a repeat offender, while this is Nyquist’s first interaction with the Department of Player Safety.
Many fans will be surprised by this outcome, given what looked like intent to injure on Nyquist’s part. He seemed to be looking right at Spurgeon when he attacked him in a retaliatory manner—Spurgeon had cross checked him into the boards moments prior.
In the league’s official video report, the Department said that it was “not an accidental or inadvertent high stick”. Nyquist said during his phone hearing that he was trying to get his stick around Spurgeon’s body to deliver a cross check of his own. In the report, they do include that since there was no injury sustained on the play (Spurgeon would return to the game quickly after receiving stitches in the dressing room) and he had no prior history of discipline, he was given a lesser suspension.
As Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press reports, Ken Holland will not appeal the suspension. It sounds like Nyquist admitted fault in the hearing and will accept his punishment. Perhaps it is true that he wasn’t attempting to high-stick him, but he has to control his stick at all times. It could have easily resulted in a much more severe injury for Spurgeon.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.