The Tkachuk's needs to take their own advice and move on from Ottawa

It’s time for the Tkachuks to take some of their own advice.

Ever since former captain Brady Tkachuk turned his back on the organization this past off-season by orchestrating a trade to the Florida Panthers, it’s been a hot-button topic around the NHL. When the news first dropped on Father’s Day, it was a freshly opened wound that surprised the fanbase, for the most part. 

When the 2018 fourth overall pick returned to the Canadian Tire Centre with his brother and the rest of the Panthers squad, he was met with one of the most egregious choruses of boos from the same fan base that had supported him and filled the arena months earlier with chants and cheers in his praise. The loathing for the former face of the franchise was merited since he spent months leading up to it denying trade rumors and doubling down on his passion for Ottawa. 

Booing a former captain is a part of professional sports. It doesn’t show that a fan base isn’t ready to move on, especially when a player leaves under circumstances like Tkachuk or Connor Hellebucyk. The boos raining down and the creative chants showed their passion for the new direction the team is in and their disdain for what Tkachuk did. Panthers head coach Paul Maurice echoed this, acknowledging that the fans in the arena had every right to react however they wanted. 

Brady could have closed this chapter for himself, but instead, he used his return game to get a couple more digs in on his former teammates. Tkachuk got into some heated discussions with Dylan Cozens, Ridly Greig, and Nick Cousins, but one of his most talked-about antics was his comment to the Senators players. Tkachuk opened the scoring and skated by the Senators' bench, mentioning how some things never change. The meaning behind the comment remains unclear, but it was Tkachuk's confident response to temporarily silencing the crowd. Clearly, some tension exists between him and his former teammates stemming from his off-season betrayal.

Who is keeping the conversation alive?

However, the betrayal doesn’t seem to be just a topic of conversation among Ottawa Senators fans. It seems to have remained a frequent topic of conversation in the Tkachuk household. Despite his family repeating the narrative that they have moved on and are ready for this new chapter, the Tkachucks themselves seem to be doing whatever they can to keep the animosity alive. 

The latest example came last night, when father Keith spoke with The Athletic about his son’s departure from the nation’s capital during his Hockey Hall of Fame induction weekend. 

"Brady's moved on. We've moved on. It's time Ottawa moves on. "

Keith Tkachuk to The Athletic

It's a rather interesting statement to make, given how often his two sons revisit the situation that he claims they have moved past. 

Why bring up attendance figures?

The conversation could have (and probably would have) ended when the final buzzer sounded on October 21 after the Senators led the charge and defeated the Panthers 5-1. Instead, Brady’s older brother and now teammate, Matthew, revisited the matchup this past week on the brothers’ Wingmen podcast and questioned whether the arena was a sellout.

The crowd was loud, the atmosphere was intense, and the Senators walked away with one of their most decisive victories of the season so far. It wasn’t the outcome the Tkachuk brothers were clearly looking for, and it seems this was the only jab they could make about the game. Rather than letting the outcome put Brady’s chapter in Ottawa in the rearview mirror, Matthew’s comment intentionally drew more attention to Ottawa. 

The irony is hard to ignore. Yet the Ottawa Senators fanbase and organization are being told they need to let it go. Has Ottawa really been the one struggling to move on? If the Tkachuks genuinely wanted to put Brady’s time in Ottawa in the past, they should stop feeding the ongoing narrative. Tkachuks

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