Radko Gudas reveals what happened during awkward call with Auston Matthews
Photo credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
Auston Matthews is still at the center of it, and Craig Berube is left dealing with the fallout from one hit that changed Toronto's season.
The story moved again on Wednesday when Radko Gudas finally opened up about the call he made to Matthews after the March 12 collision.
«I really hate the way it ended up, the point of contact,» Gudas told reporters after the Ducks' morning skate at Rogers Arena. «I'm not a fan of that. I never want to injure anybody out there. It's a hard-fought game. It's just, yeah, I never want to go out there and hurt anybody. I feel terrible about the outcome. I just committed to the play, and unfortunately that was the point of contact.»
Gudas said he reached out because he hated the way the play ended.
He made it clear the point of contact bothered him right away and that he never wanted to hurt anybody on the ice.
That matters because this was never just another post-whistle controversy.
Matthews went down, the building went quiet, and the Maple Leafs suddenly had to think about life without their captain.
Gudas said he texted Matthews after the game in Toronto. Matthews answered a couple of days later, which led to the phone call that has now become part of the story.
And Gudas did not dress it up.
He said the conversation was really hard to keep going and that his main point was simple: Matthews needed to hear there was no intent behind it.
«It's very hard to, really hard, to keep in conversation,» Gudas said. «Just wanted to make sure that (he knew) it was not my intention to hurt anybody.»
The call adds another layer to a bad moment
That does not change the result. Matthews suffered a Grade 3 MCL tear, and Toronto lost its top player for the rest of the season.
It also brought the Maple Leafs' response back under the spotlight. Morgan Rielly and William Nylander later admitted the bench should have pushed back harder after the hit.
That's where Berube's group still wears this one. A team can talk about composure all it wants, but there are moments when the room expects a stronger answer.
Gudas has already served a five-game suspension, so the league has ruled on the play. The noise around it has not gone anywhere because the damage to Toronto was too big.
For Anaheim, this becomes part of Gudas' reputation whether he likes it or not. He plays on the edge, and when a hit crosses into season-changing territory, people remember.
For Toronto, the bigger issue is what comes next without Matthews in the lineup. The call between the two players may have been honest, awkward, and necessary, but it does not give Berube his captain back.
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| POLL | ||
MARS 25|74 ANSWERS Radko Gudas reveals what happened during awkward call with Auston Matthews Did the Maple Leafs fail Auston Matthews with their on-ice response ? | ||
| Yes | 68 | 91.9 % |
| No | 6 | 8.1 % |
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