After combining for five points on Thursday night against Finland, the Tkachuk brothers are ready for a showdown with Canada on Saturday.
Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk just gave the hockey world a strong reminder that he's a player built for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Now, all he and the Senators need to do is get there.
At the 4 Nations Face-Off on Thursday, Tkachuk was moved onto a line with his brother, Matthew, and the duo dominated in Team USA's tournament-opening 6-1 trampling of Finland. Both Tkachuk brothers threw their bodies around, forced turnovers, annoyed people, and created a pile of scoring chances. They easily could have had more than the two goals they each ended up with.
Brady is already one of the most popular athletes in Ottawa’s history, but on Saturday night, the mutual love affair will take a pause as the Americans go head-to-head with Team Canada. As far as Sens fans are concerned, this will be the first time as a pro their beloved captain dons the villain’s black hat.
In a critical Game two matchup, he's the bad guy. D'uh.
Meanwhile, the first two games of the tournament have already proven that this event is a far cry from the sleepy NHL All-Star weekend we’ve come to know and endure. And if, somehow, there were still any doubts about how seriously the players are taking this tournament, the younger Tkachuk laid them to rest with his comments about the upcoming matchup with Canada.
“I think it’s going to be the biggest game I’ve ever played in my career,” Brady told the media after Thursday’s win. “So I’m really looking forward to that. There’s a big build-up to it. U.S. versus Canada, it’s bigger than just the guys on the ice. It’s so many people—past, present, and future.”
The “biggest game” comment comes from Brady’s love of the game and his country. But it also hails from the Senators’ complete absence from recent big-game participation. If the Sens get to play in a playoff game this spring, it will be their first in eight years and the first of Tkachuk's career.
Tkachuk and the U.S. team were met with loud boos during player introductions on Thursday, and their anthem was also jeered. And that was just a neutral-site game. With Team Canada now directly in the mix for Saturday's game, going head-to-head with their American rivals, emotions will run even higher—especially in the current political climate.
Combine all that with some of the most skilled players in the world, and Saturday’s game should make for outstanding theater.
“I’m so excited for it,” Tkachuk said. “I think we’ve been talking about (the game against Canada) especially. And yeah, I’m really excited to experience it. It’s going to be a long couple of days until it happens, but the excitement is going to be at an all-time high.”
After Saturday’s game, things shift to Boston for the last two round-robin games and the championship game. And if Canada and the U.S. meet in the final next week, you can count on Boston fans to be just as unfriendly to their visitors as Montreal fans have been.
This article is from The Hockey News-Ottawa. For more Ottawa Senators coverage, check out THN.com/Ottawa or join the Senators Roundtable by leaving a comment below.
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