The Olympic event has caused a lot of discussions beyond just the injury that happened on the ice.
The crash that took Canadian captain Sidney Crosby out of the Olympic games has now started a new debate. A video from the quarterfinal on Wednesday shows Czech player Radko Gudas, who is part of the Anaheim Ducks, allegedly using a homophobic insult during the time he knocked Crosby out of the game.
For several days, everyone was talking about Crosby’s injury, but the conversation has changed now.
With a microphone on the ice, Gudas can be heard shouting: “Get off your fking knees, you fking cksucker! ” while complaining about a two-minute penalty given to Brandon Hagel for rough play. It seems like he was directing this insult at the referee from Sweden, Mikael Holm, but it is not clear if it was meant for someone else who wasn’t in view. He then went to sit in the penalty box.
People on social media reacted quickly. Users on Reddit in the r/hockeymemes group focused on the situation: “He hurt an Olympic legend after a dirty move, only got one penalty when he should have had four, and shouted a homophobic insult at the referee. ”
Some people discussed whether what he said was really homophobic, but in hockey, there is a clear rule—players have been penalized for similar remarks. In 2017, veteran player Ryan Getzlaf from the Ducks was fined $10,000 by the NHL for using the same type of insult toward a referee.
On Tuesday, Gudas admitted that he did use a word that many see as homophobic during the Czech Republic’s game against Canada last week, and he apologized in an interview with The Athletic.
“I’m a really passionate person,” Gudas said. “I wear my heart on my sleeve, and I take the game very seriously. At that moment, I didn’t fully understand what the word meant, and I sincerely apologize for it being part of the game. We need to learn from our mistakes. ”
The event brings more tension to an already heated time during the Olympics. Crosby’s injury has been in the news a lot, but what Gudas supposedly said has started conversations about how players should behave, take responsibility, and show respect in top competitions.
Now, everyone is paying attention to how the IIHF and NHL could react to this supposed misbehavior.
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