NHL Player Safety’s George Parros stands by Radko Gudas suspension: ‘We came to it for good reason’
MANALAPAN, Fla. — George Parros stands by his decision on the Radko Gudas suspension, saying Tuesday he was “confident’’ in the outcome.
“We came to it for good reason,’’ the head of the Department of Player Safety said in a media availability before Day 2 of the NHL GM meetings. “When we evaluate these plays, we look at the play and not the players. If we determine that play was worthy of supplemental discipline, we then look at history of the players involved and if there is an injury or not. This is how we come to make all of our decisions. We did this and made this decision under those circumstances, felt that this was the appropriate response and so I stand by it.”
Parros has come under fire for suspending the Anaheim Ducks captain five games for a knee-on-knee hit that ended Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews’ season, many believing it was too light.
Parros was asked Tuesday whether he knew Matthews could need surgery and if knowing that would have affected his decision.
“So the general understanding was there was an injury on this play,’’ he said. “That seemed very obvious. I do get an injury report at the time when I decide to have a hearing. After that point in time, I call the team and let them know we’re going to have a hearing for the offending party, and then I’ll find out what the injury information might be. The assumption was there was an injury on this play, and having that information and feeling that way about this, knowing there’s an injury, I still decided to have just a phone hearing for that. It wasn’t like I decided to have a phone hearing, found out there was an injury and then wished I had an in-person instead, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Gudas had a phone hearing, which means, per the CBA rules, five games is the maximum he could be suspended. Should it have been an in-person hearing, which allows for a longer suspension?
“We have incidents that occur that are toward that (five-game) threshold, but I do consider all those things every time,’’ Parros said. “If I don’t believe that six or higher is a real possibility, I don’t like necessarily calling an in-person hearing just to have a little bit of wiggle room if I’m not really confident in the fact that it would be that number of games. When you do call in person, of course there’s reaction and maybe anticipation for a much larger number, and there’s no cap on that number, right? We know if it’s a regular hearing, it’s five games or less. When it’s an in-person, it could be six to there’s no limit.
“If, however, I think there’s a very real possibility or even a slight possibility to be that six number or higher, then absolutely I want that wiggle room. And I don’t mind calling an in-person hearing and coming in with a lower number than six just to go through that process, make sure we’re doing it the right way. But also a reminder to everybody in the media and everybody else, players and general managers and whoever it might be: We can have an in-person hearing and have it be less games. I don’t mind that aspect of it, but there is an aspect to managing expectations and not just having in-person hearings left and right to drum up maybe unnecessary attention.”
Connor McDavid was among the players who have spoken out, saying perhaps it’s time the discipline process gets a look.
“We have a process in place that we feel confident in,’’ Parros said when asked about McDavid’s comments. “We’ve been doing it a long time. We sweat over these decisions and pore over these decisions every night all season long. We have a process in place that’s consistent and we have a team that works for me and together with me that evaluates all these plays. It’s a very experienced team, veteran team, guys that have been here since the beginning of the department, not to mention all the former players that have a large set of experiences in playing NHL games, accolades.
“Some of the best guys who played the game work for this department help make these decisions. So, our process, I feel very confident in. We’ve got great guys who make these decisions and I think the players should be confident in this team to do so.”
Parros wasn’t surprised by the comment from Matthews’ agent Judd Moldover, who also happens to be McDavid’s agent.
“No. I mean, listen, is anybody surprised that an agent is going to stand up for his player? I’m not,’’ said Parros. “There’s nasty stuff that gets said out there in the social media world, but that’s not my concern.”
Is it time for NHL Player Safety to re-examine its process?
“We’re always looking to improve if there is room for it,’’ Parros said. “This is a collaborative effort with the general managers, and in an environment like this, we get together, we work on the game, if there’s issues in the game that need to be fixed, we’re more than willing to do that. If that involves our processes, we can talk about that, too. We are dictated by the CBA to look at these plays in the manner I suggested, past precedent and all these other things that are negotiated with the union. So, like I said, we feel very confident in the process we’ve been doing for a long time. That doesn’t mean that we’re not willing to evolve if we need to. We’re always looking to improve things if possible. That’s what these meetings are for, things like that.
“I don’t think that we can negate the fact that the game is going pretty well. This game is as fast and as skilled as it’s ever been. Our players do have buy-in. We have incidents like this all the time. There’s always a couple that are going to be lightning rods, but in general, we make a lot of decisions that are accepted, that are anticipated, and that players, I think, do know where the line is. I trust our players to a great degree out there. This game is so fast and things happen so quickly and they play this game so responsibly under those circumstances that I think it’s actually impressive. I think they play this game with a great degree of responsibility, physicality, skill, speed. That all has changed quite dramatically in the last number of years and they do a really good job of it. So, I think they do understand where that line is.
“Now, we can disagree on certain lengths of suspensions and things of that nature; however, I’m very confident and very satisfied where the game is at in general right now.”
As for longer suspensions or a culture shift in player safety toward that, Parros said that’s a conversation the players also need to be involved in.
“So if there’s going to be a major shift or change that’s needed, that needs to be expressed not only to the players, but the Players’ Association would have a say in that as well,’’ said Parros. “So if you’re talking about the major shift in the number of games in general or for a certain type of incident, that is something that would be talked through with the union and certainly related to the players. It’s not outside the realm of possibility. If something needs to change in this game, we’re going to do it. There’s no ego about that. There’s no rigidity. There’s no trends right now or anything systematic or systemic in the game right now that leads me to believe that we need to change something that’s happening on the ice, that we see on the ice that we’re not dealing with. If that time comes, then we’ll absolutely deal with that head-on and involve the parties that need to be involved.”
