Brady Tkachuk Will Not Attend Panthers Playoff Games

Last spring, Brady Tkachuk became one of the Flames’ most surprising celebrity fans as the Ottawa captain traveled to Calgary with his family to root on older brother Matthew for their playoff games at the Saddledome.

He says he simply cannot do so again this year, not with Matthew Tkachuk now playing for division rival Florida and the two teams having such a contentious game just a week ago.

Speaking on the ‘Got Yer Back’ podcast with hosts Pierre LeBrun and Ryan Rishaug, Brady Tkachuk said he may just be hanging out in South Florida while the Panthers are in the playoffs.

Only he will not be attending any of the games at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise.

As much as he roots for his brother, Brady Tkachuk and the Panthers don’t get along real well especially after last week’s fight-fest in Sunrise in which Florida eliminated Ottawa from playoff contention with a 7-2 win.

Brady Tkachuk was ejected in the second period after fighting with Marc Staal.

Matthew Tkachuk was tossed from that game in the third after numerous altercations of his own.

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Simply put, Brady Tkachuk is not real popular with the Panthers and Matthew Tkachuk is not liked in Ottawa.

Nice having the Tkachuk brothers in the Atlantic, eh?

“It’s different now,’’ Brady said. “(We are in the ) same division, it’s just a different vibe here with us. We were so close.

“Last year, we were out pretty early in February and we weren’t really expected to be there. … I might be in Florida, but I’m definitely not going to any of their games.”

The Tkachuk brothers were involved in numerous altercations on Thursday night but, under family directives, did not fight each other as usual.

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Just before Brady and Staal got together, Matthew and Drake Batherson went at it with both going off for fighting.

Once that broke up, Brady and Staal threw down leading to game misconduct penalties and an early exit for both players.

“Of course, we’ll never do anything against each other,’’ Brady said. “That’s non-negotiable. We’re both leaders of our own teams, so we have to put the ‘brothers’ aside and just focus on winning.’’

Speaking of Keith Tkachuk, he made a big splash last month when he went on a Toronto morning show and ripped into the Panthers.

This came two days after Florida lost 5-2 in Ottawa for its fourth consecutive loss which seemingly put an end to the Panthers’ playoff hopes.

But the night of Keith Tkachuk’s radio rant — one in which he called the Panthers a “soft team” which was “getting everything they deserved” — Florida pulled out a 3-2 overtime win Toronto.

Florida is 6-0-1 since that loss in Ottawa and clinched a spot in the playoffs on Tuesday night when Chicago upset the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Keith Tkachuk apparently sent the brothers a text message following Pittsburgh’s loss.

As Matthew said on TNT last week, his dad is enjoying Florida’s resurgence and is taking plenty of praise for it all.

“He’s been taking credit,’’ Brady Tkachuk said. “He’s been saying to me, ‘if they get in, I’m Executive of the Year.’ He’s definitely taking this one and laughing about it.

“He is definitely proud of Matthew and everything he’s done.”

Said Matthew: “He definitely considers himself a hero down here in Florida for changing our season around.”

PANTHERS ON DECK

CAROLINA HURRICANES AT FLORIDA PANTHERS

• When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
• Where: FLA Live Arena, Sunrise
• TV/Streaming: Bally Sports Florida/ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932
• Last season: Florida won 3-0
  
• This season (Series tied 1-1): Florida 3, Carolina 2 (Nov. 9); Carolina 4, Florida 0 (Dec. 30)
• All-time regular season series: Carolina leads 70-46-10, 11 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers — First Round of Stanley Cup Playoffs, Game 1 (Time, Opponent TBD)