Radko Gudas was involved in another international incident on Thursday as he was ejected for a knee-on-knee hit to Auston Matthews. Gudas, who knocked Sidney Crosby out of the Olympics four weeks ago took Matthews out with the "dirty play" during the second quarter of the Ducks' loss to the Maple Leafs.
Matthews received a pass in front of the net with just over four minutes to go in the second period when Gudas came across his front side and flexed his knee as he made contact with the Team USA star. Matthews needed help off the ice while Goudas got an escort after receiving a five-minute major and a game misconduct.
Gudas represented Czechia in the 2026 Winter Olympics. That's where the defenseman knocked Sidney Crosby out Canada's quarterfinal victory. Crosby did not return during the Olympics and then the United States beat Canada in the gold medal game. Four weeks later, and Crosby has not yet returned to the lineup for the Penguins.
After the great game, Toronto coach Craig Berube simply called the play "dirty" and said the league would have to look at it. The NHL probably can't technically take the Crosby injury into consideration when considering a punishment, but could you blame them if they did?
Gudas has been doing this for a decade now. When he was suspended for a hit in 2016 he was already considered a repeat offender for a number of previous incidents.
Radko Gudas's Suspension History
In total Gudas has been suspended for four separate incidents for a total 21 games.
In '15 Gudas was suspended three games for elbowing Mika Zibanejad in the head.
In '16 he was suspended for six games for a preseason hit on Austin Czarnik.
Gudas's longest suspension came after slashing Jets forward Mathieu Perreault in the back of the head in '17. Gudas was given a 10-game suspension for that incident.
Most recently he was suspended two games for slashing Nikita Kucherov in '19. To quote the announcer, Gudas "bonked" his former teammate on the top of the head.
It's a lot of offenses to take into account.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Radko Gudas Takes out Auston Matthews Four Weeks After Knocking Sidney Crosby Out of Olympics.
