Radko Gudas certainly cleared the lane for Nick Cousins to score the overtime winner that eliminated the Toronto Maple Leafs from the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Brilliant play, blatant penalties, or both? Tough Call will be reviewing the incident. Have your say!
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And the Academy award goes to the Toronto Maple leafs fan base. For the best crying scene in a series! Go panthers
Wow! Its not why we lost but that is so obviously holding the stick. I have heard the ridiculous arguement that happens 20 times a game. Well, so what!? Then call it 20 times a game. Then on top of that he mocks the goaltender. And yes it was a mock. It's to bad.
that was just as bad as the goal they called back
Smart play. Illegal but I like it. lol
Boo hoo the leafs suck get it over it bro .they lost this series them selfs not the reffs maybe fire your core 4 or stop complaininv thanks
the NHL must allow all controversial incidents to be review including the elbow on Marner by Stall, the holding the stick on that goal and etc. etc, Leafs fans have a legit complaint against NHL, it`s fucking rigged. Start hitting the refs hard on ice and make it look like an accident, send them into early retirement on a regular basis, maybe the NHL will start calling the games fair.
What a shame the NHL
It seems interference is going to be highly discretionary call which will lead to more player and fan frustrations. Rule 56 of the NHL Rulebook is pretty clear on what is interference. The "reverse hit" before puck possession is established needs clarification as well. The easiest determination is Gudas's character. To cheat and then scream in the goalies face in celebration, easy to know this dudes level of integrity.
Calls get missed on all sides. Don't get your team down 3-0, and the missed calls are less likely to end your series.
Easy call 2 minutes for holding the stick, he prevented the Dman from stick checking the puck carrier. Or interference take your pick. They called that penalty in the other game. The leafs have not been getting calls for several years now. This needs to be looked at is there a there there. I think it needs to be looked at.
Anyone stating that "Officials won't call anything because it's the playoffs" are an absolute joke, rules are rules and they don't change just because they playoffs started. When you don't obey the rules you get penalized end of story. No one in any game, or any team in any series, should be aloud to just do anything they want that goes against the rules with no consequences. Florida should defiantly have gotten a interference penalty in OT, especially because that's a curtail play that lead to a goal, ending the Leaf's season. If you did not clearly see the Leaf's defender was not able to play his position properly because Gudas was aloud to hold his stick, ultimately allowing Cousins to get a clear shot at the net and scoring to win the game. The Officials not calling that just shows how much this leagues officials are a bunch of jokes, and it's embracing and just makes them look pathetic, and it also does not show well for the NHL either. Not only that Gudas than decided to scream in Woll's face afterwards, showing how low of class he truly has.
You mean Florida got away with interference? They did it all series.
Terrible view
There's a million of these instances over the course of the year, and when the playoffs start, it gets worse, and if players are quick, they get away with it, which creates an environment where if you can cheat but get away with it, you should. Which I don't think anyone wants. The time has come for the league to understand the refs can't do their job, and even if they could, it seems like they have biases and this odd mechanism for calling penalties that has little to do with penalties, and more to do with if a team "deserves" it, or if its their turn.
Imagine if say the NBA would say fuck it it’s playoffs and we aren’t calling any fouls in the 4th quarter. There would be outrage. Just call the damn game by the book and that’s it
Not a Leafs fan. What a screw job. Insane on a series winner
Exactly the kind of garbage that always happens to the Leafs in these moments. Classic.
Pretty inexcusable. Especially given what they called in game 7 against Toronto last year
Blatant!
Florida should be killing a penalty with Gudas in the box. Imho. That’s called holding the stick. Especially when Gudas drops down to pick it off the ice whilst entering the zone and driving to the net.
The fact that the video I have indicates the ref looking 👀 and pointing 🫵 at the blatant infraction directly warning Gudas to let go tells me everything I gotta know about the trash NHL and it’s referees.
First off… a ref is NOT
To warn a player of their wrong doing, but rather penalize them when they see it.
Anyone who says this play is legal…Clearly has no integrity.
Probably double Vaxed too. 😂 ✌️
🐄 🐄 <<< these are leafs fans. Milking the cows.
🤫Gretzky never high sticked Gilmour either 😂
LOL sneaky Radko
why wasn't the Leaf's coaching staff all over this?
Tough call to make in O.T. I think Leaf fans deserve this, again.
Y'all missing the point it is okay to cheat a Canadian team out of the playoffs and it's going to keep happening until we get Batman out as commissioner. This has been going on for 29 years and counting and it will still happen until Gary Bettman is gone. We should have won that game
Gudas literally beelined for between Jarnkrok's legs to scoop up his stick so he could pick it up and hold it which turned Jarnkrok sideways and away from Cousins, clearing the lane. People keep saying the game is too fast for the refs to have seen this as it happened but I spotted it in real time and it was obvious Gudas wasn't driving to the net to make a hockey play. Why would you skate into the defender and clog up the shooting lane even more for your teammate unless your goal is to physically clear the lane? As soon as he beelines for Jarnkrok you have to know he is up to no good. Jarnkrok does not have the puck so there is no legal way to physically clear the lane (he is not eligible to be hit and it isn't football so you can't grab him and push him back like a linebacker. You can't physically stand in front of him as that blocks Jarnkrok's lane to defend against Cousins which is interference). So why would he skate directly AT Jarnkrok at all if not to interfere? He doesn't even try to make you guess. He leads with his stick but not to tip a pass from his teammate. He doesn't even try to hide the fact that he is putting it between Jarnkrok's legs. If Jarnkrok tries to move laterally Gudas's stick should prevent him from moving freely. Gudas then closes in on him just long enough to interfere but not long enough where if it was called fans would lose their ever loving minds and declare that that isn't called in the regular season let alone playoffs and that it happens 50 million times a game. Gudas knows how to non hockey just long enough to get away with it. Gudas then makes a scooping motion which is when he grabs the stick. When you are watching this what are you thinking he is doing? He isn't screening the goalie, he is not getting set for a pass or a tip, in fact he is doing nothing offensively. He has not looked at the puck or his teammate to adjust and get open since he crossed the blueline. Gudas is no longer in Jarnkrok's lane as he knows that would be too obvious so, even though Jarnkrok is not a defender, Jarnkrok should be able to close the gap or at least make himself big to block a shot or pass. But yet Jarnkrok magically seems to be drifting away from Cousins at the same speed as Gudas is moving – as if they are somehow joined. The gap between Jarnkrok and Cousins increases. Jarnkrok continues to be pulled closer towards his net still at the same speed as Gudas still as if they are somehow joined. Gudas is still doing absolutely nothing offensively. Cousins adjusts his path slightly heading for the clear lane Gudas has illegally created, and shoots. Gudas has still not even glanced at the puck or his teammate to adjust to provide any offensive support since he crossed the blueline. As he found himself at the top of the crease, he turns around just in enough time to be surprised as Cousins shoots. Gudas had glided into the lane he had created for Cousins and was in the way of the shot. This causes Gudas to have to drop Jarnkrok's stick and jump out of the way. This does not sound to me like a teammate offensively involved in any kind of hockey way. (I know players screen the goalie and have to move or jump sometimes but they are looking at the play to know where and when to move, they do not turn around and suddenly realize where everyone else is on the ice, including the shooter). It is too bad Jarnkrok hadn't thought to let go of his stick and leave Gudas holding the evidence. Maybe it would have been called then?
as a Panther fan first time I see this angle wow . Penalty no doubt.
It's crazy because it looks like he was using his stick to simply slow himself down so he doesn't ram into the goalie from his momentum, like it was instinct, but it did cause the defensemen to be useless for those split seconds.
As a FLA fan, there have been soooo many missed calls on both sides tbh. Especially when FLA played BOS, it came to the point that I tagged the NHL in a tweet calling out the bad calling, not that my post matter but it was the first time I have ever done that. And yea, most of the time fans are screaming at the refs because of biased calls against their own team, but this time it was ridiculous and not bias AT ALL.
I think the objective needs to be to have the refs be more accountable in some way or add another ref in there? man I don't know.
It's just the league bending over backward to try and make the Panthers a successful franchise. Every year, the league has to bail them out financially.
CH fan there that definitely should have been a 2min to Gudas and obviously no goal. This kind of play should be reviewable in OT in playoffs when a goal i scored.
Absolute trash. The NHL is a joke of a league. No concern for player safety or the integrity of the sport. As long as American ratings are strong, the rest is an afterthought, whether that's players choke holding opponents to the ground, ending their season (on a 20 year old rookie for that matter), or a vicious attempt to decapitate another player, followed by two more blows (with a weapon) to that same player's back as they lay turtled on the ice in a vulnerable position. This league is a joke. Bettman needs to be fired and the entire player safety department along with him. I haven't even addressed the missed stick grab which resulted in the end of the Leafs season. Again, this isn't a serious league, it's a joke.
It was more of a defensive play to avoid a goal.
I say CRY HARDER 😂
This was def a penalty but the thing I can't understand is how nobody is talking about Jarnkrok turning his head away to hide from the puck in that situation. He should have dove face first and ate that puck. Instead, he moves out of the way so as to protect his chicklets and the puck goes right through the territory he vacated into the back of the net. This lack of want to epitomizes the real reason the Leafs were ousted. Leafs fans should know the only way to hoist the cup is to give life and limb to have that honor. They just weren't willing to give all and that's why the lost. They don't have that whatever it takes mentality. Thats the reason they need to blow it up, it's not in this groups DNA.
NHL is bush league with officiating , a lot of fuckery and no calls.
Been watching different playoff games and gotta wonder if it all isn't scripted !
I mean there are 2 penalties on the play – interference and holding the stick.
Are we surprised though? The refs missed countless calls against the Panthers in the game and series. Florida was the /no most penalised team in 2023 and Leafs were 5th least penalised- yet they ended the series basically even on power plays.
HIs stick got tied up with jarnkrok's stick there was no holding
It happened so fast the sticks got tangled on Goudas' drive to the net pushing Leaf player's stick into glove of Goudas for what .1 seconds. This definitely not a foul.
i thought all overtime goals were reviewed
Karma now Florida is crying about Vegas but in reality it's Florida that started it all on Hill 🤣🤣🤣
No excuse for that no-call. And Gudas getting in the goalie's face after his team just got knocked out of the playoffs is the only reason I'm pulling for Vegas in the Final, because I wouldn't care.
Refs suck
He probably yelled in wolls face bc he thought the game wasn’t over yet
Even if the leafs stop embellishing and whining and put their nose to grind stone, they won’t get a call. That fan base’s criticism and chants are why I say the leafs won’t win until they move out of Toronto.