Brady Tkachuk Receives Warm Reception From Senators Fans In Return To Ottawa

For better or worse, the spotlight was on Brady Tkachuk for much of the night on Wednesday at Canadian Tire Centre.

It was Brady’s first game back in Ottawa since he was traded by the Senators to the Florida Panthers over the summer.

As many expected, there were plenty of fireworks both on and off the ice.

Much of the ambiance was set by the Senators fans in the stands, who pelted Tkachuk with a barrage of chants throughout the evening.

Those chants included “Brady sucks,” “F—k you, Brady,” “You eat crayons,” and “You can’t read,” among others.

To his credit, Tkachuk took it all in stride.

He smiled at the crowd as they chanted at him before the game, during his tribute video and much of the time he was on the ice.

“Were they ruthless?” Tkachuk said with a smile when asked about the crowd after the game. “It was good. It shows the passion they have.”

As for the game itself, the early stages were dominated by Ottawa, much to the delight of their fans.

The Panthers first shot on goal didn’t come until the ten-minute mark of the opening period, but it was a big one.

With Florida on their first power play of the night, Matthew Tkachuk found his brother to the right of Ottawa’s net, and Brady quickly spun around with the puck and fired a shot that went off Sens goalie Linus Ullmark and into the net.

That would basically be the end of any positivity toward Florida’s night.

Five unanswered goals later, Tkachuk and the Panthers skated off with their tails between their legs following the 5-1 onslaught by the Senators.

“It was just nice to be back,” Brady said. “Of course, it’s not the outcome we wanted, but it’s the start of a road trip. Just have to bounce back and move on to tomorrow.”

The game featured a total of 84 penalty minutes, two fights and 67 hits, though the verbal assault by the Sens fans certainly seemed more blatant and profound than anything that happened on the ice.

“It wasn’t out best game,” said Tkachuk.

Fortunately for the Cats, it won’t be long before they have a chance to make up for the rough night.

Florida will be right back in action on Thursday when they wrap up the road back-to-back with a matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“It’s a really big test tomorrow, really challenging,” Tkachuk said. “We’ve got one of the greatest to ever do it stepping on the ice tomorrow, so that’ll just get you really excited for that.”

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Photo caption: Oct 21, 2026; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Florida Panthers left wingBradyTkachuk(8) salutes the crowd as he is welcomed back to the Canadian Tire Centre to play against the Ottawa Senators for the first time. (Marc DesRosiers-Imagn)