The Stanley Cup Playoffs have been devastating to your bracket, probably. Early exits from Boston, Colorado, and Toronto meant that a ton of pre-loffs favorites have lost their chance at a Cup. They’ve also meant that a ton of former Capitals players have been eliminated from the postseason, leaving just a scant few remaining.
Here are those losses and survivors.
By Peter Hassett 4 months ago
The Florida Panthers finished off the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game Five of their second-round series on Friday night. The Panthers got an overtime-winning goal from forward Nick Cousins to send the Leafs packing in front of 20,000 very sad Torontonians.
Cousins may have gotten the final glory as the scorer of the eliminating goal, but it was a series of plays from defenseman Radko Gudas that created the opportunity. And, no, it didn’t involve The Cheese Wheel sitting on anyone.
By Chris Cerullo 4 months ago
The first round of the 2023 NHL playoffs has been incredibly physical and officials have doled out a whole bucketload of penalty minutes in response. One of the more rough and tough defenders active in this year’s postseason is Florida’s Radko Gudas.
Gudas is definitely not shy when it comes to throwing his weight around and trying to get under his opponent’s skin. That has been on full display in the Panthers’ first-round series matchup with the Boston Bruins.
So much so, that Gudas had to be warned by an official during Florida’s Game Five win on Wednesday to cease some of his behavior. It was an interesting and unique request from referee Frederick L’Ecuyer, to say the least.
By Chris Cerullo 5 months ago
Florida Panthers defenseman Radko Gudas delivered one of the biggest hits of this NHL season on Thursday night. The former Capital caught an unsuspecting Kirby Dach with a hip check that sent the young Blackhawks forward flying head over heels.
The rugged Czech leads the entire NHL in hits with over 300. The next closest player is 65 hits behind him.
By Chris Cerullo 1 year ago
Former Capitals defenseman and current Florida Panther, Radko Gudas was sent to the penalty box for holding Friday night as the Panthers took on the Vancouver Canucks. Instead of going to the box for two minutes and feeling shame, Gudas was just left feeling dehydrated.
None of the water bottles in the visitor’s penalty box had any water in them.
By Chris Cerullo 2 years ago
Radko Gudas (AKA Gudy, AKA Dadko, AKA The Cheese Wheel, AKA The Mayor of the Toronto Bubble) has played his final game in Washington.
Friday, the beard-y, eight-year veteran signed a three-year deal with the Florida Panthers shortly after the start of free agency.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report the news.
ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski and Emily Kaplan published a must-read story about the NHL bubble experience on Tuesday. And it’s remarkable because it features rare candor from players. The article focused on how difficult living in the bubble was and how the NHL under-delivered on the experience.
The weirdest part of the bubble, according to players, was living in the same hotels as their opponents.
Radko Gudas was supposed to be a moneyball-style upgrade over Matt Niskanen. Ha. Nope. Extremely 2020 vibes.
By Peter Hassett 3 years ago
It was an afterthought at the time, but Radko Gudas delivered one of the biggest hits of the Capitals season in Game Four against the New York Islanders.
After Washington hemmed the Islanders into their defensive zone for two minutes, Cal Clutterbuck escaped with the puck and tried to advance it into the Capitals zone.
Gudas said NO with a devastating Dmitry Orlov-quality hip check.
The Washington Capitals know that the end is near so they went to dramatic lengths to change their luck heading into Game Four.
Down 3-0 in their first-round series, several Capitals players sported new looks, highlighted by first-line center Evgeny Kuznetsov who shaved his head bald and left a goatee.
By Ian Oland 3 years ago
