Standing on the confetti-covered ice in a pair of jeans and a baseball hat, the guy posing for photos next to the Stanley Cup looked like just another family member who wanted to get in on the celebrations following the Florida Panthers’ championship win on Tuesday.
Except this wasn’t just another family member.
It was Brady Tkachuk, whose day job is captaining the Ottawa Senators. However, on this night, he was Brady Tkachuk, the unofficial captain of the Matthew Tkachuk fan club.
“It’s really cool. It’s a dream come true. I’m just so happy for him,” Brady Tkachuk told The Hockey News. “At the end of the day, he’s worked so hard to get to this point, not just last year, but this year too, so it’s perseverance. I’m just really and truly so happy for him and the ride he’s been on.”
The ride that Matthew Tkachuk has been on is one that Brady Tkachuk has had a front-seat for.
The younger Tkachuk has been there since the beginning, whether it was shotgunning bears with fans inside Calgary's Saddledome when Matthew was playing for the Flames or helping him get dressed for games when a broken collarbone nearly kept him out of the 2023 Stanley Cup final.
Last year, the Tkachuks finally got to celebrate a championship together. And this year, they did it again.
For Brady Tkachuk, it’s been a bitter-sweet experience. Obviously, he’s extremely happy for his brother’s accomplishments. But a part of him also had to be wondering when — or if — his time would ever come.
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Forget winning a championship. For the first six years of Brady Tkachuk’s NHL career, he didn’t even qualify for the playoffs.
That drought finally came to an end this season, when the Ottawa Senators faced the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first-round of the playoffs. Tkachuk led the Sens with four goals and seven points, but the Senators ended up losing the hard-fought series in six games.
It was a small step and a small taste of what Matthew Tkachuk has gone through, having now played in 12 rounds and 67 games in the past three years.
“I mean, definitely. I think it’s a longtime grind,” said Brady Tkachuk. “The team that takes care of themselves, the team that at the end of the day is the hardest on teams and is the hardest to play against ends up winning. They did a great job. I’m just happy for his perseverance through his injury and his ability to show up in big moments.”
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When asked if there was something he could learn from his brother's success over the years, Tkachuk said it was Matthew's approach to the playoffs. Two years ago, his brother played through a broken collarbone. This year, Matthew Tkachuk suffered an adductor muscle tear that was so severe that the muscle was practically torn off the bone. And yet, you wouldn’t have known it based on his performance.
Matthew Tkachuk finished the playoffs with eight goals and 23 points in 23 games. During the final, he had three goals and seven points in six games.
“To be honest with you, just being around him — the only time I’ve been around him is when we were leaving the house today — I saw him and his demeanour was cool, calm and collected,” said Tkachuk, who earlier this week was named to the U.S. Olympic Team, where he'll once again team up with his brother.
“He knew the series was going to be ended tonight. He played great. And I just learned a lot from the 4 Nations, to be honest with you. He’s just a great guy to learn from.”
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The Panthers, who have now won back-to-back championships and reached the final in each of the past three years, have also set an example for how Brady Tkachuk wants the Senators to play.
“I definitely think there were some things that we tried to emulate,” said Tkachuk. “They’re such a beast of a team. The way they play, I think every team is going to try to model themselves after that, because they play such a hard way and are hard to play against.
“If that’s the team that we can be in Ottawa, that would be a pretty good team.”
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