Brady Tkachuk Defends Dad After Media Twists Keith Tkachuk Comments
Ottawa media was not happy... even thought the comments were about the Florida Panthers
It has been a bit of a strange season for the Ottawa Senators, with the latest off-ice distraction coming this week as captain Brady Tkachuk is defending his dad, NHL great Keith Tkachuk, over comments he made on his podcast.
Keith Tkachuk was a guest on Brady and his brother, Panthers' star Matthew Tkachuk's, podcast, when he started talking about the toughness of NHLers these days.
This is hilarious, because by modern standards, hockey players are as tough as they come… but, back in Big Walt's day, they were even tougher.
"Holy Christ, his whole team," Tkachuk said, referring to Matthew's Florida Panthers. "My pinky hurts. I’m out for six to eight (weeks)."
"I knew that was coming. I knew right when he said that, I was like ‘Don’t say it,’" Matthew said
"‘I just had a bad sleep, so I can’t play today,'" Keith continued. "Oh my god, disgusting…. ‘I can’t play back-to-back.' ‘Rest management.'"
"That is crazy. Back-to-back, that used to not be… whatever," Matthew agreed.
"Grant Fuhr played seventy games in one year. Seventy-six," Keith said.
Now, remember, that started with Keith talking about the Panthers.
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However, because this is a team in a Canadian market, the press in Ottawa took that reference to Grant Fuhr as a dig at Senators goalie Linus Ullmark.
So, they did what they've been fond of doing since the Olympics and grilled Brady about it.
"Being a part of it and after watching it back, I thought it was pretty clear he was talking about Florida," the Senators captain said. "I don’t really know how it got turned or misconstrued, but you know what happens. But I mean, I know in there I thought it was clear as they were talking about Florida, but a lot of all that other stuff, and just people taking it and twisting it, just nothing I can do about it."
This seems like the media making a mountain out of a molehill.
Tkachuk has enough to worry about as the Senators are in a tight battle for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
He also has to cut a check after being fined $2,500 for slashing Buffalo's Beck Malenstyn from the bench.