George Parros Fires Back At Critics After Gudas Suspension Backlash

The NHL's Department of Player Safety is no stranger to criticism. 

The DOPS is kind of notorious for sometimes coming across like they decide punishments with one of those county fair pig races or by chucking darts at a wall. 

But things have ramped up in the wake of Anaheim Ducks captain Radko Gudas' 5-game suspension for kneeing Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews.

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The incident left Matthews with a season-ending injury and led to criticism from the Leafs, Matthews' agent, and even Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid about the severity of Gudas' punishment.

Now, George Parros, a former NHL enforcer and the league's senior vice president of the Department of Player Safety, is responding.

Senior vice president of the Department of Player Safety George Parros is responding to criticisms of the suspension given to Anaheim's Radko Gudas. (Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images)

"Listen, is anybody surprised that an agent is going to stand up for his player? I’m not," Parros said at a general managers meeting on Tuesday. "There’s nasty stuff that gets said out there in the social-media world, but it’s not my concern."

Yeah, of course, an agent is going to go to bat for his guy, but, given the severity of the hit and Gudas' history, you can understand why people were bent out of shape when Gudas was given a phone hearing by the DOPS.

That meant that the maximum suspension was going to be five games, which they gave him.

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But Parros insisted that the DOPS really weighs these decisions heavily.

"We sweat over these decisions and pore over these decisions every night, all season long," Parros said, per Sportsnet. "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, guys that have been there since the beginning of the department. Not to mention all the former players that have a large set of experiences playing NHL games, accolades. Some of the best guys that have played the game work for this department (and) help make 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 these teams to do so."

Parros said that this situation was no different than the rest, and he stands by it.

"I feel confident in this decision," he said. "We came to it for good reason."