Hey, Maybe It's Time To Suspend Radko Gudas Again

Radko Gudas hits people, sometimes (often?) crossing the line from physical to dirty. It’s how he plays, and it’s how he’s going to play until told not to—or until some sort of discipline gets to him. I think it’s about time for the Flyers defenseman to have a few unpaid days off, after his latest dangerous, needless hit, and his third ejection in two weeks.

Last night, in Philly’s 6-3 win over the Devils, Gudas put a shoulder into the head of Bobby Farnham.

The hit itself wasn’t as brutal as, say, Gudas’s other offending hits this month. But it was just so unnecessary. It was far behind the play, on a player who was tied up, and it didn’t seem to offer any benefit to the Flyers other than hurting an opposing player. Gudas was sent off with a match penalty.

On Feb. 11, in the closing minutes of a blowout game, Gudas wrecked Sabres rookie Daniel Catenacci, who was diagnosed with a concussion and placed on IR.

Bafflingly, the Department of Player Safety decided not to get involved.

On Feb. 2, Gudas got a clipping major and a game misconduct for this hit on Montreal’s Lucas Lessio. Lessio was injured on the play and hasn’t suited up since.

DoPS didn’t get involved on that one either. In a vacuum, last night’s hit on Farnham probably isn’t worthy of supplemental discipline. But it’s not a vacuum. It’s Gudas leaving a trail of bodies in his wake.

We know DoPS knows who he is: Gudas was suspended three games in December for a check to the head of Ottawa’s Mika Zibanejad. Hopefully Gudas gets another call today.