Brady Tkachuk Reveals Family’s Horror After Upsetting Fan Interaction at 2024 Stanley Cup Finals

“There’s a lot of hatred between us and the Oilers, building. Who knows? Maybe we’ll meet next year,” Florida Panthers captain Matthew Tkachuk said after beating the Oilers for a second year in a row, as per TSN. While he didn’t believe that there was anything particularly worse about the trash talk between the players, it shows how things reached fever pitch from the very first year, and Brady Tkachuk just backed that claim up.

While the Ottawa Senators fell to the Toronto Maple Leafs in round 1, Matthew Tkachuk’s younger brother enjoyed watching his brother’s team avenge them in round 2. However, the younger Tkachuk spent the entire playoffs in the stands with his family, and things got ugly during the final series. The Senators’ captain confessed that the fans didn’t even spare the players and their families.

“Last year was insane,” Brady Tkachuk said when discussing how the Oilers fan treated him and his family. Brady Tkachuk knew that Oilers fans wouldn’t roll out the red carpet for him, but the Oilers fans still caught him off guard. “It was like, you know? People ask for pictures. So I would take a picture, and then it was either: Chirp Matthew, chirp me, chirp my dad, chirp our family,” the 25-year-old said on the Cam & Strick Podcast.

Neither the NHL star nor his family was prepared for the shocking lengths the fans went to in the heat of the rivalry. “I was just like, then don’t ask for the picture. So, I learned my lesson there,” confessed the Florida Panthers’ star’s brother. This lines up with the reputation the Oilers vs. Panthers Stanley Cup final rivalry has developed. TSN’s James Duthie even reported on the trash talk.

“Multiple people, who are involved or close enough to hear it all, say this is the nastiest trash-talking Stanley Cup Final they’ve ever seen. Usually, some subjects are off-limits. Not here. Everything on the table,” revealed the NHL commentator. Duthie quoted an unnamed source saying it’s “pure verbal hate.” However, besides last year’s incident, Brady Tkachuk shed some light on a missing piece about his brother.

Brady Tkachuk revealed what caused Matthew Tkachuk’s injury

While Matthew Tkachuk turned out to be a crucial piece of Florida’s playoff win, the NHL forward believed his season was done after getting injured during the 4 Nations Face-Off. “This is probably the last game I’m playing all year,” Tkachuk told his US teammates ahead of the 4 Nations final against Canada. While the hockey world didn’t know it back then, Tkachuk had good reason to say such a thing.

Brady Tkachuk’s brother finally revealed the severity of the injuries he was still rehabbing from when the NHL playoffs came knocking. “Matthew Tkachuk says he tore the adductor off the bone and was dealing with a hernia on the same side of his body,” Frank Seravalli said, quoting the 27-year-old. Brady Tkachuk confessed that he may have played a role in that injury.

“I think it was a bad pass by me that kind of screwed him to begin with,” said the Ottawa Senators star. “It was like a spinorama pass, which I don’t know why I was doing. I think it was just a little bit outside his wheelhouse. So he had to reach for it, and I think that’s what did it,” added the 25-year-old, finally shedding more light on how the Cats’ forward sustained the injury.

Thankfully, everything worked out. Matthew Tkachuk thanked the team’s doctors for their relentless efforts to get back on the ice. Meanwhile, Brady Tkachuk even joked about it a bit. “I blame his warm-up routine. You got to be warmed up,” he said. And although this injury will fade from memory, one thing is clear: The Tkachuk family won’t fall for the picture trap if the Panthers meet the Oilers for a third year in a row.