It there’s one player many think deserves a place in the Hockey Hall of Fame, it’s Keith Tkachuk. He had a fantastic career, and is just one of five American-born players to score 500 goals. Tkachuk was a great power forward, and out of the 47 NHL players who’ve scored 500 goals, he remains one of only four eligble players to not be a member of the HHoF.
Keith Tkachuk, nicknamed Walt, played for the Winnipeg Jets, Phoenix Coyotes, St. Louis Blues, and the Atlanta Thrashers during his career, but he never won a Stanley Cup. However, last season, the name Tkachuk was finally engraved on the Stanley Cup, thanks to Keith’s son Matthew.
Matthew Tkachuk is one of the NHL’s biggest stars, and he played a crucial part in the Florida Panthers’ winning the Cup in 2024. Keith’s other son, Brady Tkachuk, is also one heck of a player, serving as the team captain for the Ottawa Senators.
Great story about Keith Tkachuk
Both Matthew and Brady are great hockey players, but they’re also known for their aggressive and tough playing style on the ice. Both play with grit and never back down to a fight, and it’s no coincidence. Jamal Myers, an analyst for Sportsnet and a former teammate to Tkachuk while playing with the Blues, recently shared an awesome story about Keith’s parenting style.
”It was always great,” Myers said about having Keith Tkachuk as a teammate.
”What was nice about them, Brady and Matthew were only a few years apart. And I could recall a story where Matthew was in the dressing room, and Brady was there as well. And they were just going at it pretty much the whole time.”
Tkachuk punched kids at school
Keith suddenly called Matthew over to Myers to share what had happened in school just a few days ago.
”And ’Walt’ would say, ’Hey, Matthew, come over here and tell that story about what happened in school yesterday.’ So he told me a story where a kid was getting on him and bugging him a little bit. And Walt was like, ’Get to the good part!’ And Matthew said, ’Well, I punched him in the face.’
Naturally, Myers didn’t love what he heard. But Keith made sure that Matthew was doing the correct thing.
”I was mortified at the time. I didn’t have kids. I’m like, ’Walt, that’s not okay.’ He’s like, ’Yeah, it is. That’s all I want him to be.’ And then you’re thinking, ’You can’t do that.’ Well, I guess it worked out. Because now, both of his boys are stars in the National Hockey League, playing that aggressive style. But back then, I was wondering about his parenting skills.”
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