Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk appears on ‘The Tonight Show’ to talk 4 Nations, Olympics
Matthew Tkachuk joined host Jimmy Fallon on a late-night broadcast to talk about the 4 Nations tournament, the Olympics and the Panthers’ Stanley Cup victory.
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The 4 Nations Face-Off tournament did a lot to grow the game of hockey. It reached 10.7 million Canadians on Sportsnet and set an ESPN hockey viewership record in the United States.
Four days after the final and the tournament is still moving the game forward — a fact evidenced by Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk appearing on The Tonight Show on Monday evening.
Tkachuk joined host Jimmy Fallon on the late-night broadcast to talk about the 4 Nations tournament, the Olympics and the Panthers’ Stanley Cup victory.
But to address the elephant in the room, what about that injury?
“Feeling better, just recovering right now,” Tkachuk told Fallon. “But the last two weeks, representing my country, was something that I’ll never forget.”
Tkachuk suffered an undisclosed injury at the 4 Nations that the Panthers worry could keep him out long-term. But to hear Tkachuk tell it, it was worthwhile to represent USA Hockey alongside his brother and play the game on the biggest stage.
“We’ve played in the All-Star game together, but that’s fake,” Tkachuk joked when talking about his brother Brady. “It was our first-ever opportunity. We grew up always competing against each other and dreaming about it, eventually one day…
“We always had the dreams of playing with each other, and it finally came true.”
The Tkachuk brothers, already well-known around the NHL, made quite the name for themselves outside the hockey world as video of the infamous trio of fights to start the Americans’ round-robin game against Canada went viral.
“We never had the opportunity [to play best-on-best international games], and so myself and all the guys that were in this were just so jacked up for it, and I think that’s why you saw the fights all at the beginning against Canada,” he said, before acknowledging that father Keith Tkachuk was probably proud watching his two sons fired up on the ice.
Tkachuk also spoke on how special it was to see his father get emotional at his Stanley Cup win, something the elder Tkachuk was never able to accomplish despite his storied career.
“[Keith] played 19 years and was one of the best players of all time, one of the best Americans of all time and he unfortunately never got the chance to win the Cup,” Tkachuk said. “I don’t think he would change a thing, to see one of his boys lift that trophy.
“One of the coolest moments I had was after that, on the ice, having my whole family with me and, I don’t know, I had the Cup in my hands for some reason. This was after all the celebrating and I got to hand it to him and it was one of the most special moments of my life.”
Keith may not have lifted Lord Stanley’s Cup, but he did spend his fair share of time representing the U.S. on the international stage, including earning silver at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. Matthew and Brady will likely follow in their father’s footsteps and get back on the international stage when NHL players return to the Olympics next year in Milan — where Matthew hopes they can win gold for the first time since 1980.
“I truly believe in our team, and we got so close with this tournament and looking at next year as being a chance at redemption. But I truly believe in our chances and, like I said, wearing the USA crest, there’s nothing like it and we have so much pride in it. We’ll be ready to go.”
