BURSTCALGARY – Nine stitches, one lost tooth and an overtime winner.
Just another night at the office for Brady Tkachuk.
“I don’t feel too good,” said the Ottawa Senators captain Thursday night, sporting a nasty gash on the left side of his top lip.
“I don’t feel too good looking right now either.
“Thank god we got the Christmas pictures done already.”
It’s evenings like these that serve as gritty reminders of why Matthew’s baby bro may just be the most complete player in the modern game.
A gifted scorer and playmaker, a fighter, an entertainer, a wrecking ball, a leader and a bleeder.
A unicorn on skates.
No wonder Amazon announced Thursday he’d be the face of the next instalment of Prime’s docuseries Faceoff: Inside the NHL.
But now, because of the high stick he took from Calgary Flames captain Mikael Backlund midway through his team’s 3-2 overtime win at the Saddledome, a swollen portion of that face will resemble hamburger meat as he recovers.
“I’ve already sent pictures to the family group chat and I’ve already seen texts back like ‘mutt’ and stuff like that,” smiled the colourful winger, still able to see the humour through his pain.
“Hopefully it’s a lesson learned for everybody to wear their mouthguard.”
One wonders if Matthew may stop twirling his mouthpiece around like a lollipop after seeing Brady’s mush.
Doubt it.
Tkachuk inadvertently ate Backlund’s baton in the middle of a 1-1 game you knew he’d return to as soon as the repairs were made
As mom and dad saw while watching back home in St. Louis, there he was at the start of the third period, grimacing on the bench with a new badge of honour.
By night’s end, he was swatting in his third overtime winner of the season – his 16th goal of the campaign – to give his surging squad its fifth straight win.
It helped ease the sting he knows he’ll be dealing with over the last handful of days leading into Christmas.
“They did a great job in there,” said Brady of the Flames medical staff and dentists that took care of him, as they did for Matthew for so many years.
“It was funny, we were reminiscing over some good memories that we’ve here in this building.
“I think the word ‘family’ came out, so that was great. It just shows the impact Matthew had and what kind of teammate he was and how he treated everybody.
“They did a great job and I’m very thankful for the doctors.”
Remember, this is a young lad who double-fisted Molson’s throughout the Flames’ playoff series win over Dallas in 2022, endearing himself to the city while cheering on Matthew, hucking t-shirts into the crowd and even carrying a child on his shoulders following Johnny Hockey’s Game 7 winner.
Plenty of memories in the Saddledome indeed, so why not leave a tooth and a few pints of blood there as well?
Did he consider wearing a bubble for the third period to protect his face?
“I just know I couldn’t put my mouthguard back in,” he shrugged.
“I’m so numb that I can’t even feel my teeth anyway, so it didn’t even matter.”
Brady has been friends with Backlund going back to the days Matthew and the Flames captain played on the same line.
“He apologized – no hard feelings,” said Tkachuk.
“Obviously he didn’t do it intentionally. It happens. If it comes back his way then I’ll probably apologize…just kidding.”
Stopped on a breakaway in the first period, it was a relatively quiet night for Tkachuk until the opening minute of overtime when a Linus Ullmark save on Jonathan Huberdeau sprang Tim Stutzle on the decisive 2-on-1.
A save by Dan Vladar saw the puck carom off Tkachuk’s skate at the side of the net where he batted in the winner out of mid-air.
Mobbed as he danced in the corner, he took the time to carefully toss his stick over the glass to a young fan.
This guy just gets it.
“Not the best looking guy out there – I’m sure he’d tell you differently,” joked Nick Cousins of his leader, whose wife just had their first child.
“It just shows the character for him to come back. He’s been clutch for us in OT here early on in the season.
“Obviously a tremendous player and I have a lot of respect for how he carries himself.”
So do Flames fans.
