Keith Tkachuk goes into the Hall with both sons in Panthers red
The old man never played for Florida, but his kids just assisted on the same goal in Boston the weekend his plaque goes up.
Keith Tkachuk goes into the Hall of Fame on Monday night, and the most Panthers thing about it is that the old man never played a single shift for Florida, while his two kids just assisted on the same goal in Boston.
That's the weekend in one line. The father gets his plaque in Toronto, while the sons wear our sweater and give South Florida a reason to care about a ceremony for a guy who played in Winnipeg, Phoenix, St. Louis and Atlanta.
The career that got him there
Keith played 1,201 games and scored 538 goals with 1,065 points. He won the 1996 World Cup with the Americans. He waited 14 years for the call, and his 538 goals were the second most of any eligible player still on the outside, behind Patrick Marleau.
He was a power forward before everyone started saying it like a job title. He went to the front of the net, paid for it and kept going back.
Anybody who has played the game knows what that spot costs your body over a career, and he paid the bill for 19 seasons without asking for a discount.
He grew up playing street hockey in East Boston, and on Saturday he went looking for the Bruins plaques in the Great Hall, the way any kid from that neighborhood would.
"It's just crazy to think you're in the same spot as Bobby Orr," he said at the ring ceremony on Saturday.
The sons, in our sweater
The timing is the part nobody could script. Brady was traded from Ottawa to Florida the same weekend his dad got the call in June.
"They've dreamt of playing together," Keith said then.
The dream has turned into serious, everyday production. The number: entering Sunday, the brothers had both landed on the score sheet in 10 of Florida's 17 games, by our count from NHL data.
Both picked up an assist on Carter Verhaeghe's power-play goal in the 4-1 loss at TD Garden, so it's 11 of 18 now, and both have points in four straight.
Brady has 10 goals in 17 games coming into Sunday, per NHL data. Matthew has 21 assists. One finishes and one sets the table, and the combination works because neither of them has ever been shy about going to the hard areas of the ice.
Sunday was ugly, and I've already graded the loss in Boston. Brady played only 13:12 at TD Garden. This isn't the week for a tribute to the kids' defensive work, because it belongs to their dad.
The awkward table at the banquet
Here's the part I can't let go. Brian Burke goes in with Keith as a builder, and Burke said this weekend he doesn't like the trade-request trend. He wants players who ask out to hand over a list of five or 10 teams.
The Tkachuk brothers are the two most famous examples of that trend in the sport. Matthew forced his way out of Calgary in 2022, and Brady asked out of Ottawa this summer. Both of them landed in Sunrise.
Burke is allowed his opinion, but the league he's describing is the one that built Florida's current dressing room, and the man sharing his stage raised the two guys who wrote the playbook. That should be a fun dinner.
What's next
The induction airs at 8 p.m. ET Monday from Toronto. The Panthers are off that night before they play in Columbus on Tuesday, so for once the schedule leaves the family an open evening.
I've watched this franchise since the inaugural season, and I never figured the Tkachuk name would be a Panthers name. Now it's two of them. Keith built the name, and the boys are writing the next chapter of it in Sunrise.
Pabs' read: enjoy Monday, then get back to work. The Tkachuks are the engine of this team right now, and a four-game point streak for both brothers is the only thing that went right in Boston.
