By Rob Riches, Sports Talk Philly contributor
Radko Gudas will not be playing in this month's World Cup of Hockey, according to a Saturday report from TV Nova (Czech Republic) broadcaster Roman Jedlicka.
Citing a wrist injury, Gudas will be opting out of the tournament, along with San Jose forward Tomas Hertl (knee injury). Gudas is still recovering from a wrist injury that had been bothering him throughout the Flyers' first-round playoff loss to Washington.
Another players who will NOT play for team Czech republic at World Cup of Hockey: #Flyers Radko Gudas and #SJSharks Tomas Hertl.
— Roman Jedlicka (@jedli) September 3, 2016
The 26-year-old surly Czech blueliner and his physical presence impressed in his first full season with the Flyers in 2015-16, scoring five goals, 14 points, and recording a minus-2 rating in 76 games. His 304 hits were second in the league only to the New York Islanders' Matt Martin (325), and he was one of just three players in the NHL to record over 300 hits.
Gudas instead will report to the Flyers' training camp, which opens at a date to be determined later this month.
Jakub Vorack and Michal Neuvirth are still tabbed to represent the Czech Republic in the World Cup, while Sean Couturier (North America), Shayne Gostisbehere (North America), Claude Giroux (Canada), Mark Streit (Europe) and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (Europe) are still scheduled to play as well.
Training camps for the ESPN-televised tournament will open on Sunday and Monday, while the pre-tournament will begin on Thursday. The Preliminary Round of the tournament will start on Sept. 17, while the best-of-three Final will begin Sept. 27.
