{"id":521256,"date":"2026-03-25T02:10:29","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T02:10:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/521256\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T02:10:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T02:10:29","slug":"radko-gudas-returns-in-vancouver-after-suspension-for-hit-that-ended-auston-matthews-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/521256\/","title":{"rendered":"Radko Gudas returns in Vancouver after suspension for hit that ended Auston Matthews’ season"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t \"Anaheim <\/p>\n

Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Radko Gudas returns against Adam Foote’s Canucks tonight, and Vancouver gets a close look at one of the league’s most debated suspensions.<\/p>\n

Anaheim gets its veteran defenceman back in Vancouver after a 5-game suspension tied to the March 12 knee-on-knee collision that ended Auston Matthews’ season.<\/p>\n

From the Canucks’ side, that makes this matchup heavier than a normal late-season puck drop. Gudas is back in the lineup, but the reaction around the league hasn’t cooled much.<\/p>\n

A lot of players and fans still see the ban as light compared to the damage from the play. That won’t disappear just because he’s eligible again.<\/p>\n

Vancouver also knows Anaheim is still playing for something. The Ducks come in at 39-27-4, while the Canucks are 21-40-8.<\/p>\n

So this is not just a return story for Anaheim. It’s a test for a Vancouver group trying to handle a hard, emotional game against a team that still has real standings pressure.<\/p>\n

Canucks get the first crack at Gudas after the ban<\/p>\n

Gudas didn’t duck responsibility for the result. <\/p>\n

\u00abI really hate the way it ended up, the point of contact,\u00bb he said.<\/p>\n

He also made clear he never wanted to injure Matthews and said he reached out after the game. That explains the remorse, but it doesn’t erase the outcome.<\/p>\n

From Foote’s bench, the message should be simple. Expect traffic, expect edge, and expect emotions to rise the second Gudas gets involved physically.<\/p>\n

Joel Quenneville backed his player before the game and said there was nothing premeditated in the play. Anaheim’s focus is getting points, not revisiting the hearing.<\/p>\n

For Vancouver, the opportunity is right there. Make Gudas defend, make him turn, and force him into quick decisions instead of letting him dictate the tone.<\/p>\n

That’s what makes Tuesday night interesting at Rogers Arena. The Ducks get Gudas back, but the Canucks get first shot at making his return uncomfortable.<\/p>\n

Previously on Vancouver Hockey Daily<\/p>\n

POLL<\/p>\n

2 HOURS AGO|34 ANSWERS<\/p>\n

Radko Gudas returns in Vancouver after suspension for hit that ended Auston Matthews’ season<\/p>\n

Did Radko Gudas deserve more than 5 games for the hit on Auston Matthews ?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images Radko Gudas returns against Adam Foote’s Canucks tonight, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":521257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5128],"tags":[3528,233,532,894,5,1552,4,9464,893,27,5313],"class_list":{"0":"post-521256","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-vancouver-canucks","8":"tag-adam-foote","9":"tag-anaheim-ducks","10":"tag-auston-matthews","11":"tag-canucks","12":"tag-hockey","13":"tag-joel-quenneville","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-radko-gudas","16":"tag-vancouver","17":"tag-vancouver-canucks","18":"tag-vancouvercanucks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116287389582544811","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}