George Parros doubles down on the Gudas ruling as confusion reigns over the Department of Player Safety
George Parros had everyone demanding answers over the Radko Gudas suspension and his response was to call them emotional then tell the best player in the world to trust the process.
That's not a leader, but someone who stopped caring about the safety of his players.
Having a lot to answer for after players, agents, and fans were up in arms over Gudas' light punishment, Parros doubled down on his decision and was honestly, pretty corporate and generic which falls in line with his lackadaisical disciplinary process.
George Parros dismisses agent revolt as 'emotional' while defending a broken disciplinary system
He mentioned that he trusted his team, and that the knee was consistent with previous incidents - something we'll touch on in a little bit:
We sweat over these decisions and pour over these decisions every night, all season long. 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.
A very experienced team, a veteran team. Guys that have been there since the beginning of the department.
Parros is probably sweating more over the reaction to his decision than the decision itself, and while it's great there are rules in place; they clearly aren't good enough.
If he has a group of people who were there from the beginning then they need to be a bit more proactive and speak up against Parros' decision-making. Under Brendan Shanahan there seemed to be little fuss but Parros has had complaint after complaint. It's not the team, it's one guy.
But it's Parros' dismissal of not only Connor McDavid and his cries for change, but took aim at Matthews' agent Judd Moldaver after his fiery comments on the situation:
Listen, is anybody surprised that an agent is going to stand up for his player? I'm not. There's nasty stuff that gets said out there in the social media world, but it's not my concern.
He should start to be concerned though because with each lousy decision comes louder and louder backlash and it's only a matter of time before Gary Bettman starts to take notice.
Confusion deepens as league office ignores Connor McDavid's direct plea for change
McDavid told reporters that he would like to see a new way of doing things where players current and old can discuss situations, while also providing a voice that would allow the ones who make the money to have a say in their own protection.
But Parros shut that down immediately and it shows a clear disconnect between what the league does and what they preach:
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 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 this team to do so.
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 this team to do so.
Parros just told McDavid to shut up and deal with it. The face of your entire league is worried about his safety and the guy leading the charge just says 'Be thankful?'
Maybe instead of relying on former players who played when the game was slower and a lot more dirty who may turn a blind eye to these situations, how about allowing the current ones to have a say? They're the ones on the ice after all.
The refusal to listen to the best player in the world is stunning. If Sidney Crosby said the same thing would he just so easily be shut down? It's not the phone hearing that's the issue now - it's why Parros and the NHL shut their ears whenever something bad happens.
Why the NHL's refusal to adapt creates a broken culture for 2027 and beyond
Who's next? Is it McDavid who needs to tear his knee before things change? Is it going to take twelve concussions for Macklin Celebrini?
This is a bad sign for the future of the NHL without a shadow of a doubt. There's minimal protection, and if you leave things open for business; you're going to get many more stars injured.
If you don't change things up for the future and create more protection then you current and future money-makers could suddenly leave a big hole in the bank account.
The NHL loses millions upon millions in revenue when stars get injured, and when you have 32 teams it can quickly pile up. Imagine if McDavid, Matthews, Makar, Kucherov, etc were all taken out long-term. Fans don't want to tune in, and that means less money.
It's actually a genuine surprise they have refused to add more protection given the immense financial implications, and that could lead some to believe that the NHL Offices and Player Safety aren't seeing eye to eye exactly.
Good on Parros for trying to stick to history, as he still lives in an old-school mentality and stuck to his morals.
Too bad they're rotten to the core, and his dismissal of some of the most important people in the league right now shows Player Safety is just a formality.
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Previously on Hockey Patrol
| POLL | ||
MARS 17|777 ANSWERS George Parros doubles down on the Gudas ruling as confusion reigns over the Department of Player Safety Should the NHL fire George Parros from Head of Player Safety? | ||
| Yes | 720 | 92.7 % |
| No | 57 | 7.3 % |
| List of polls | ||