Tag: Matthew Tkachuk

See the moment Keith Tkachuk finally lifted the Stanley Cup after the Florida Panthers won Game 7

Keith Tkachuk’s long wait is finally over.

The Florida Panthers might have finally gotten the Stanley Cup monkey off their back, but another person had been waiting a lot longer.

Five-time NHL All-Star Keith Tkachuk, father of the Panthers’ standout Matthew Tkachuk, missed out on touching the greatest trophy in sports during his illustrious career. And while younger brother Brady avoided touching the Cup — because he wanted to win it on his own — Matthew made the best possible gesture for his father.

He sought him out during the on-ice celebrations, letting the elder Tkachuk finally experience the ultimate hockey nirvana. For folks who watched Keith dominate as a power forward in the 1990s and early 2000s, this was quite a sight:

What a beautiful moment for the Tkachuks. A moment that was decades in the making. Now Brady just has to complete the trifecta and earn a Cup of his own.

Featured image courtesy of ESPN

Why Brady Tkachuk didn’t touch the Stanley Cup after the Florida Panthers won Game 7

Pro athletes never tempt fate

The Tkachuk name is finally going on the Stanley Cup more than 30 years after Keith broke into the NHL.

Matthew Tkachuk, Keith’s oldest son, helped lead the Florida Panthers to their first championship in franchise history as they defeated the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 on Monday night.

Yet in all the photos of the Tkachuk family celebrating on the ice and in the locker room afterwards, you may have noticed Matthew’s younger brother Brady abstained from getting too close to the famed trophy (so far).

There’s a good — and pretty classic — reason for this.

Hockey players, like most pro athletes, are incredibly superstitious, and there’s a long held belief that any player who touches the Stanley Cup before  winning it will never win a championship.

Considering Brady Tkachuk, who plays for the Ottawa Senators, is still 24 with a whole career ahead of him, it makes sense he wouldn’t want to tempt fate.

That left him trying to celebrate his brother’s victory without cursing his own chances of winning the Cup. It seems like he struck a solid balance, all things considered. The Senators (+400) are tied for the 10th-best odds to win the Cup in 2025, so it was probably a good move.

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Childhood pals Matthew Tkachuk, Jayson Tatum made their high school proud with NHL, NBA championships

From high school pals to champions.

For an athlete to reach the professional ranks of their respective sport is an extreme source of pride for the hometown and high school they came from. For that athlete to reach star status and win a championship only heightens that sense of pride.

But what is it like to have two athletes from the same school do it all in the same month? We’ll have to ask Chaminade College Preparatory School in St. Louis. Because after Matthew Tkachuk’s triumph with the Florida Panthers Monday night followed his buddy Jayson Tatum winning an NBA title for the Boston Celtics last week, Chaminade is one of the few schools to know that over-the-moon feeling.

After Florida won the Stanley Cup, Tkachuk said everyone back home should be very proud.

“Two champs from St. Louis, are you kidding me right now?” Tkachuk said. “Chaminade, everybody there. All the teachers, classmates, you guys should be very proud.”

They are, Matthew. They are.

Chaminade principal Philip Rone said as much in a tweet, adding that Tkachuk should be proud too. And he had a lot more to say about “The Hilltop of Champions.”

Brady Tkachuk was so emotional watching his brother Matthew Tkachuk win a Stanley Cup

Talk about brotherly love!

There’s nothing like brotherly love and Brady Tkachuk is feeling all the feels right now for his brother Matthew Tkachuk.

On Monday, the Florida Panthers won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history in a thrilling Game 7 victory against the Edmonton Oilers. The Panthers were able to battle back from a possible reverse sweep and win the Stanley Cup in front of their home fans.

It wasn’t just Panthers fans in attendance on Monday either, as the Tkachuk family was also there to watch Florida forward Matthew Tkachuk in his quest for his first Stanley Cup. And after the clock struck zero on the Panthers win, the cameras panned to Matthew’s brother Brady and the rest of the Tkachuk family, who were incredibly emotional about the proceedings.

Not only that, Matthew Tkachuk is the first member of the Tkachuk family to have his name on the Cup!

This isn’t the first time Brady Tkachuk was spotted cheering in the stands for his brother and it no doubt won’t be the last!

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Here’s how Jayson Tatum and Matthew Tkachuk are connected

Did you know Jayson Tatum and Matthew Tkachuk know each other?

As Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum celebrates winning a title, he’s pulling for his childhood pal Matthew Tkachuk of the Florida Panthers to do the same. 

Indeed, Tatum and Tkachuk went to grade school together at Chaminade College Preparatory in St. Louis, Missouri, as a former teacher recently extolled the duo from having taught them. 

“The best part about both of them was they’re just down-to-earth guys that, you know, when they play their sport, you could tell they were very good and skilled, but outside of that they were just one of the guys, one of the students, just both really good kids,” CCP teacher Michael Derkits told WCVB in Boston.

After winning the 2024 NBA Finals on Monday night, Tatum shouted out his old friend and hoped he and the Panthers would bring home the Stanley Cup on Tuesday during Game 5 of this year’s NHL championship series.

You just never know who knows who in this wide, wonderful world of sports.

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Chris Kreider casually tossed Matthew Tkachuk’s mouthguard into the Panthers crowd

YEET!

The New York Rangers and Florida Panthers Eastern Conference playoff series has gotten chippy, and now that’s included a … thrown mouthguard?

Yes, that’s right. As Rangers vet Chris Kreider had a little face-to-face with his counterpart Matthew Tkachuk, it looks like he grabbed the mouthguard out of the Panthers star’s mouth and tossed it into the crowd.

LOL! I assume Florida’s equipment manager has spares for each player, but still!

When asked about the incident after the game, Kreider said he didn’t remember that. Seems like something you’d definitely remember, but with the Rangers losing Game 4, maybe he didn’t want to talk about it.

Here’s that moment:

 

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Video shows David Pastrnak appearing to get permission from Bruins coach before a brutal Matthew Tkachuk fight

This was unexpected, but what a fight!

This is a perfect playoff hockey moment.

David Pastrnak isn’t known as one to drop the gloves as the biggest star and goal-scorer on the Boston Bruins. But in the Game 2 loss to the Florida Panthers, he decided it was time to go after the physical forward. And in a video from the game, it looks like Pastrnak asked Bruins coach Jim Montgomery for permission to do it, and he appeared to get the nod.

At that point, the game was over, so it was largely symbolic. But still, that’s a noteworthy moment and maybe it turns things around after a 6-1 loss. Pastrnak later said he wasn’t afraid of Tkachuk.

The Tkachuk brothers’ grandmother went through the gamut of emotions watching them jaw at each other

The Tkachuks’ grandmother was going through it while her grandkids chirped at each other.

Matthew Tkachuk and Brady Tkachuk caused all kinds of chaos on Monday night, in a Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators contest that included a referee handing out a 10-minute misconduct penalty to every player involved in a brawl on the ice.

That also included cameras capturing the Tkachuks jawing at each other, which is just delightful.

You know what else is delightful? Their grandmother was in the stands to watch this all go down, and cameras also captured her reactions, which are exactly how I would have reacted if I was her.

Check all of that out below and enjoy:

NHL fans were appalled Matthew Tkachuk played in the Stanley Cup Final with a broken sternum

Post-Stanley Cup injury reports are brutal, but Matthew Tkachuk’s is horrifying.

It feels like a miracle that Matthew Tkachuk didn’t end up in the hospital after playing Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final with a broken sternum.

Yes, you read that right. Tkachuk played Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final with a broken sternum after taking a gnarly hit the game prior. In fact, Tkachuk logged nearly 17 minutes of ice time during the game, all while nursing a broken sternum.

Tkachuk ended up sitting out the series’ deciding Game 5 due to the injury.

The news of Tkachuk’s injury came after the Florida Panthers lost to the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night, ending their Stanley Cup bid. Tkachuk’s injury was so bad, in fact, that the forward couldn’t even dress himself for Game 4. Someone else had to help him into his gear to play!

Hockey players have a reputation of playing through pain and serious injury, but what Tkachuk and the Panthers did here was completely reckless. No hockey game — yes, even the Stanley Cup Final! — is worth risking your long-term health over, especially in a high-impact sport like this.

NHL fans were horrified to learn that Tkachuk had played Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final with a broken sternum.

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Jack Eichel doesn’t think Matthew Tkachuk’s dangerous hit on him was dirty: ‘It’s a physical game’

“You’re gonna get hit sometimes.”

Game 2 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final featured a hitting moment where it was hard to ascertain if the play was “awkward” or “dirty.” No, I’m not talking about a vicious high hit by the Las Vegas Golden Knights’ Ivan Barbashev on the Florida Panthers’ Radko Gudas — that seemed pretty clear.

I’m referring to a strange exchange between Jack Eichel and Matthew Tkachuk.

As Eichel skated out with the puck toward his blue line, he tripped and made what probably would’ve been a routine check from Tkachuk look absolutely brutal from most angles. After the game, and after Las Vegas prevailed 7-2 to take a 2-0 series lead, Eichel clarified what happened on the play from his perspective.

The star Golden Knights center admitted he thought Tkachuk landed a “clean check,” chalking it up to the randomness of hockey.

Indeed, not every hit is made equal. There are sometimes some truly savage blows that shouldn’t belong in the game at any level. This Tkachuk blow on Eichel seemed just to be a case of poor fortune, making the routine seem a lot worse than it really was. Heck, even Eichel himself thinks so.