Radko Gudas suspension criticized for NHL conflict of interest after Auston Matthews' season-ending injury

Radko Gudas plays for the Anaheim Ducks. That's where NHL Department of Player Safety head George Parros spent the majority of his NHL career.

And that's what everyone is pointing out in the aftermath of Auston Matthews' season-ending knee injury, which was sustained when the Toronto Maple Leafs captain took a knee-to-knee hit from Gudas.

Gudas was suspended five games, the maximum allowed for a player who was asked only to take part in a phone hearing.

Many felt it should've been more for what has been termed by some hockey followers as a "dirty" hit.

NHL analyst Sid Seixeiro pointed out in a rant on Monday that it's not a great look.

“Do any of you know how many games George Parros played in his career? I can tell you—474," Seixeiro said. "Do you know what percentage of those games were with the Anaheim Ducks, the team involved last Thursday? Seventy-five percent.”

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And then from there, Seixeiro really brought the heat.

“Parros is now ruling on an incident involving a team he spent most of his NHL career with," Seixeiro said. "I’d bet he still has relationships there—I’m just guessing. This reeks, this decision. It reeks. And George Parros doesn’t have the background to have anyone trust him on it. He is clearly going for the Ducks in this decision. He has clearly had it out for the Leafs for years, and I am not a conspiracy guy when it comes to the Leafs—they do enough damage to themselves.—but George Parros is the last guy on earth who should be making this decision with the Toronto Maple Leafs. It’s obscene that a guy who played 75% of his career with Anaheim is judging that Matthews decision.”

Parros has recently shared his own thoughts on the matter.

“We sweat over these decisions and pore over these decisions every night, all season long," Parros said. "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. A very experienced team, a veteran team."

Someone has to make these decisions. Right now, it's Parros tasked with doing so.

After this uproar, there's a chance that the whole process is analyzed and changed. But it'll tough to ever avoid all the possible conflicts of interest.

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