Brady Tkachuk chases Olympic gold, battling childhood dreams and a formidable Canadian rival.
It's the Olympic gold medal final that every North American NHL fan wanted.
Canada will face the USA on Sunday morning (8 am) in Milan, a rematch of last year's 4 Nations Face-off title game. But with all respect to the fledgling four-team NHL event, there's a lot more pride in being able to say you're an Olympic champion than a 4-Nations Face-off winner.
As was the case last year, Ottawa hockey fans will find themselves in the awkward position of cheering against two of their favourites, Brady Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson, hoping that they'll lose... just like last year.
Obviously, the Senators captain has no interest in reliving that disappointment.
"Sometimes, you've got to have those feelings, go through that, go through a little adversity to be better on the other side," Tkachuk told the media after Friday's convincing semifinal win over Slovakia. "So for us, we've got another shot at it, got a shot at our childhood dream, and something that everybody's been looking forward to for as long as I can remember."
Tkachuk isn't able to say much about Canada's path to the final, but he's well aware of the elite talent level in their room.
"I haven't watched honestly a single second (of their games). They're always right before us, so I'm always just getting ready for our game. I mean, they've been on top for a bunch of years now. And they have tremendous players on their team, they play super hard and for us, it's just kind of leaving everything on the table and just giving absolutely everything we have. The sacrifice that I know that guys are willing to make every single shift, every single play. That's what it's going to come down to."
Tkachuk has had a fine tournament, a happy wrecking ball, putting up 3 goals and 2 assists in five games. He's still wearing that thumb brace but has gotten off some shots that indicate his surgery is well behind him. He's been on the ice for eight goals for and just one against, and his +7 co-leads a powerhouse American squad.
And from a team perspective, Tkachuk likes how the Americans are trending for the biggest game in most of their lives.
"I think our starts haven't been as great as we wanted, but it showed today that we're ready to play and ready to do whatever it takes. So I think for us, it's now just one game left, absolutely everything on the table and a game where anything can happen."
Tkachuk and Sanderson both hope the sting of losing last year's 4-Nations Face-off Final serves the Americans well.
"Yeah. I mean, I know how I felt after and it wasn't something I want to feel again."
With maybe a twinge of regret and nothing personal, Sens fans are hoping he feels exactly that way again, and that it powers him up for some special things in Ottawa this spring.
Steve Warne
The Hockey News
This article is from The Hockey News' Ottawa Senators site. Read more at THN Ottawa at the links below:
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