from Darren Dreger of TSN,

I spoke with Gudas on Thursday after his hit on Vesey and before he lowered the boom on Czarnik. He seems like a likeable man, and he's highly regarded by those he's played with and played for in Tampa and Philadelphia. They believe his good traits far outweigh the bad. He's had more than one discussion with the National Hockey League about his aggressive style and while he knows he's crossed the line with certain hits, he also says he understands where the line is and refutes the notion his game is based on delivering a physical message.

"I think playing more of a defensive role is more of a focus," he explained to The Dreger Report. "It doesn't mean I have to plan on the line all of the time to look for those hits on the line all of the time.

"Obviously, I do have a lot of hits throughout the season, so if you have three or four questionable hits out of 250 or 300 hits per year, I think that's a pretty good number. Accidents happen and everything isn't always perfect, but I'm never targeting a guy to get him hurt or anything like that.

Hockey is a tough sport and accidents happen, if the guy has the puck he's available to get hit, so it's tough to choose sometimes where to hit or not."

To this point, it appears like Gudas is making poor choices. But when asked on Thursday if he had any intention of changing his game or adjusting his style of play, he says he feels he's done that.

more