sports network: Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek on 32 Thoughts: The Podcast – This Is What Didn’t Happen episode – about the Florida Panthers defenseman Radko Gudas.
** Transcript from NHL Rumors.com
Friedman: “Another guy I heard had some traction was (Radko) Gudas.”
Marek: “Oh yeah, I can believe that.”
Friedman: “And I think there were multiple teams. One of the teams I wonder about is Tampa Bay. And I would really be curious about the idea of Florida and Tampa Bay playing each other.”
NHL Rumors: Penguins, Senators, Devils, Flyers, Blues Jackets, Greasers, Kings, Predators, Hurricanes, and Flames
Marek: “Especially with a player like that. As I know, there are some teams that just can’t make moves against each other. Like I know they have, but like Edmonton-Calgary. The old Montreal-Quebec rivalry. I would include Tampa and Florida in that mix.
Even one that we hadn’t even considered for a long time and I’ve made this point before on this show with you look how long it took Buffalo and Boston and I know Peter McNabb was in dealing with Andres Savard, but that was a free agent situation. Look how long it took Boston and Buffalo, who were in the same division for a long time, to make a deal. It wasn’t until the Danny Paile trade.
There are some teams just because of the geography, the rivalry, all of that, they just don’t make deals with each other. Somehow I put Florida and Tampa in that category, especially now more than ever. Specifically how Gudas plays.
Friedman: Yes.
Marek: “Do you want to face that guy again? Phew”
Friedman: “I heard there were three or four teams that took a look at Gudas. A legitimate look at Gudas. Ultimately, if he heard Bill Zito speak to Florida reporters after the deadline, he said (clip audio), “we started talking to Radko a little bit and we’ll continue, we’d like to keep it if we can, and it’s a process now We want to focus on these games. We want to make the playoffs and we’ll evaluate that at the end of the year.”
And they got a big win on Saturday against Pittsburgh, which was on a winning streak. A game they absolutely had to have.
But I heard that there were several teams talking to the Panthers about Gudas and they suggested that one of them was the Lightning. Which would make sense.
The other funny thing is you remember back when Tortorella was still coaching Tampa, there was a year where the Lightning weren’t very good and they got a big win over Florida. It basically cost them a playoff spot and Tortorella came out with that speech like, ‘nothing made me happier than getting those guys out of the playoffs.’ That is very real. The Panthers and the Lightning don’t like each other.”
Marek: “I had always had the impression, and who knows if it could still happen, who knows what will happen in the future. I had always wondered about Radko Gudas and Toronto.”
NHL Rumors: Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks
Friedman: “I suspect the Maple Leafs called it. I absolutely do because basically I think they called almost every defenseman. But that was not one of the teams I heard.
It kind of wouldn’t surprise me, and again, I don’t have confirmation of that, but I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the other teams was Pittsburgh. It just makes sense.”
