’ 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’ (Remember him?) late in the first period:
(GIFs via Sons of Penn)
After the hit, a scrum ensued, with the Rangers’ 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 , 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:
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:
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 . 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, will serve a three-game suspension to begin the season for a hit on Washington’s in last year’s playoffs.
"I'm not going to jump too far forward," 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.
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