MILAN — They called themselves “The Three Amigos.”
Just imagine what it must have been like for Quinn Hughes and Brady Tkachuk when, as teenagers, they lived together with Brady’s dad, Keith, for two years in a townhouse the Tkachuk family was renting in Ann Arbor Mich., while Keith’s two “billet sons” were playing for the U.S. National Team Development Program.
“Fun,” Quinn says, smiling. “He taught me how to drive. I don’t even know if it was legal.”
“Terrible driver. Terrible driver,” Keith says. “Godawful. I’d say, ‘Buddy, just let Brady drive!’ But every couple weeks, I’d take them to Ruth’s Chris, and Quinn was my chauffeur.”
This was, incidentally, when the two now-NHL stars and U.S. Olympians were 15 — before either had their driver’s license. So it was not legal.
“I think he taught him how to drive so if my dad had a couple at dinner, Quinn could drive him home,” jokes Tkachuk’s oldest son, Matthew, also now an NHL star and U.S. Olympian. “I think that was the master plan.”
Brady, of course, had lived with his dad his entire childhood. He was used to the mayhem and, yes, mentorship of the former NHL great.
But Quinn?
Those two years he spent living with Brady and Keith helped shape him.
“I put Quinn through the school of hard knocks,” says Keith, a four-time Olympian whose 538 NHL goals rank second all time amongst U.S.-born scorers, laughing. “Quinn’s mom, Ellen, and my wife, Chantal, should have their heads examined putting me in charge of taking care of Brady and Quinn those two years.”
As his cousin, New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald, says of Keith, he’s got no filter.
What he thinks, he says.
He’s unique and authentic. What you see is what you get — in a fun-natured way. So Keith had a blast listening to the boys’ banter, but he would also give it right back.
“Quinn can throw out some doozies,” Keith says. “Just being around them at the dinner table and hearing how their day was and just listening to these two goofballs would make my day every day. Some of the stuff they would come up with was ridiculous, but they were like my two boys. I wanted to make sure they were comfortable. They both worked hard, and I wanted to give them every opportunity to concentrate on hockey in school.”
Brady Tkachuk and Quinn Hughes became inseparable not long after meeting. They remain best friends despite being something of an odd couple. (Photo courtesy of Keith Tkachuk)
Keith would live with Quinn and Brady most of the time during those two years, 2015-16 and 2016-17. If he had to leave town for work, his wife or Quinn’s mom or dad would sub in. The top floor of the townhouse had the kitchen and living room, where “The Three Amigos” watched countless NHL and college games, with Keith breaking down action like a film session.
“I was just really lucky to have him and Brady,” Quinn says. “Obviously, the friendship I had with Brady and Matthew. But Keith, I mean, Keith was the man. I learned a lot from him. I’m sure I wasn’t the easiest to deal with at 16, and same with Brady. But Keith’s just a great person. I obviously looked up to him.
“We’d always talk hockey, talk life, talk different things. He wasn’t afraid to bust anyone’s balls, for sure, and I also have some funny memories of a couple of times when he did get really mad at us. I have really fond memories of it and created a lifelong friendship with Brady and Matthew.”
Brady’s bedroom was on the top floor. Quinn lived in the basement, where mini-sticks and video games were played.
“It was a gong show,” Brady says. “I mean, it was just so much fun. It was playing Xbox, we watched a bunch of hockey and just a lot of stuff to keep us busy.”
But if Keith’s “billet sons” happened to play a bad game for the Program? Those fun conversations would turn, Quinn’s dad says, “truthful.”
“In their first year of U-17s, they’d get beat a lot, because they’re younger than all the USHL kids, right?” Jim Hughes says. “And God forbid, if Brady and Quinn did not play well in any game, and Keith will tell you this, he would just say, ‘ND. ND. Both of you guys are ND. No draft. No draft!’
“He fed them like kings, made steak and rice every night, but God forbid they lost the game. There was a box of cereal waiting for them on the kitchen table when they got home off the bus. Keith was brutally honest with Quinn, and I think that’s the greatest way to make forward progress.”
Jim and Ellen have been around hockey their entire lives — Jim a former Providence College player, Ellen a University of New Hampshire Hall of Famer. But they credit Keith, the once star power forward, with helping mold the oldest of their three NHL-playing sons.
“For Quinn to have that experience with Brady and with Keith, you know … how lucky were we?” Ellen says. “And they were so young. They were the two 15-year-olds on the team. They had late birthdays. And the time they had with him is immeasurable. The impact he had on Quinn was incredible. And he always told the truth.”
The groundwork for the whole experience was laid when Quinn and Brady were Peewees and met at the Brick, a tournament in Edmonton. Brady was playing for the Chicago Junior Blackhawks and Quinn for Toronto Pro Hockey. They hit it off, even exchanging jerseys after the tournament.
Brady Tkachuk and Quinn Hughes exchanged jerseys at the Brick, a tournament in Edmonton. (Photo courtesy of Keith Tkachuk)
“Then we grew up and played some spring tournaments, got close there,” Brady says. “I think that first or second night of playing together, I was sleeping over at his house. We just grew to become close right away. I remember that first night: We played a ton of mini-sticks, just hanging out and having fun. We became inseparable from there.”
A decade later, Quinn still reaches out to Keith for guidance, and Brady and Quinn remain the best of friends at age 26.
“I talk to Quinn all the time, about hockey, but talk life with him as well,” Brady says.
Yet, they’re like the Odd Couple.
Personality-wise, Brady is loud and gregarious. Quinn’s public persona, at least, is quiet and reserved.
“We definitely have different personalities, and I think that’s what makes it great,” Brady says. “We, I guess, counterbalance each other.”
And then there’s the visual of the two together. Brady is 6 feet 4, 226 pounds. Quinn is 5-10, 180.
The size difference wasn’t nearly so pronounced when they were in the Program.
“I think Brady might have been the same weight (as Quinn),” Matthew says. “You could see his ribs, he was so skinny. It was actually a lot similar to me. We both had big growth spurts when we went to the U.S. team. Quinn, on the other hand, stayed the same.”
“We always joke, ‘What did you feed Brady that you didn’t give Quinn?’” Ellen says.
Brady’s size became an asset as he developed into one of the NHL’s most unrelenting power forwards. Quinn, meanwhile, became one of the league’s most elusive and electrifying defensemen.
“I truly think he’s the best defenseman in the NHL,” Brady says. “He truly is a game breaker, and he’s just so special to watch, and he’s just so dialed.”
Both were easy picks for the U.S. Olympic team and were among the first six players named to the team in June.
And now, like in the old days, they are having a blast in their first week in the Olympic Village — as are Matthew and Quinn’s brother Jack.
On the ice, Brady scored the first U.S. goal of the Olympics on Thursday, and Quinn minutes later put one in the net that briefly made it 2-0 but was then negated by an offsides review.
Off the ice, the two sets of brothers are rooming together, with the Tkachuks right across the hall from the Hugheses.
Matthew, 28, is two years older than Brady and Quinn and was playing for OHL London when they were living with his dad. London coach Dale Hunter would give the big-minute stars lots of time off and literally tell Matthew, “Come back in five days.” So he’d often drive the 2 1/2 hours to hang out in what he calls “the famous billet house” with his dad, Brady and Quinn.
“It was so cool to watch their friendship grow,” Matthew says. “I think having my dad there all the time was really good for my brother and Quinn, and then having each other was amazing. And it’s hilarious to me, thinking back, the nonsense that would go on in that household and the fun and the laughs and just the great camaraderie that they have as best friends and everything.
“And then to see where they are now — stars for the Wild and Senators, a couple captains in the NHL, although I know Quinn’s not anymore since the trade (from the Vancouver Canucks to the Wild in December). But I give my dad a lot of credit because he treated them as if he was molding two kids into NHL superstars.”
It was a proud moment when both “billet sons” went high in the first round in the 2018 NHL Draft: Brady No. 4 to the Ottawa Senators and Quinn No. 7 to the Canucks.
Brady Tkachuk, Keith Tkachuk and Quinn Hughes pose together at the 2018 NHL Draft. (Photo courtesy of Ellen Hughes)
“Quinn had something really special in his game, and he showed it at the Program,” Keith says. “He had some ups and downs, but that’s typical for a young player at that level. But you could just tell he had that special offensive ability that made the game look easy, especially with his skating and his brain.”
Sometimes, though, he wasn’t that smart. Like the time he didn’t like the lunch Keith packed for him and decided to throw it in the yard.
Keith caught Quinn red-handed. It’s a story that is retold often in the family.
“He would make the boys their lunches to bring to school,” Matthew recalls. “It was simple stuff to make sure that the boys were ready to just focus on school and hockey. This one time, Quinn wasn’t a big fan of what he had packed that day. I don’t know exactly what it was, but he threw it out the window into their front yard or into one of the bushes just because he didn’t want to bring it to school. He didn’t want it, and he was just going to order something there.
“I don’t know why he just didn’t throw it in the trash, because my dad found the utensils in the yard still in the plastic. So instead of dropping them off the next few days of DiBella’s or Chipotle or whatever they normally got and loved, he would throw a s—-y peanut butter and jelly sandwich at them when they’d come out to pick up their lunch as punishment. My dad was pretty pissed off.”
And he took it out on both “billet sons,” not just Quinn.
“Brady was pretty pissed with me because suddenly he didn’t get a good lunch either because I got tired of the leftovers,” Quinn says, smiling. “Keith would mash up the peanut butter and jelly and throw them in Ziploc bags and chuck it at us.”
Finally, Brady begged his dad to forgive Quinn.
“Brady called me on the way to practice and said, ‘Quinn is really flustered by this,’” Keith says. “Quinn wasn’t the most intelligent kid at that age, plus I’m part detective here. And if Brady didn’t like the lunch I packed, at least he was savvy enough to get rid of it. But Quinn finally said, ‘I’m sorry I let you down, Walt.’ And to be honest, I wasn’t really mad. I was just screwing with them. But I just wanted to teach them a lesson: Don’t lie to me, and you guys have it pretty good. There’s not many kids that get food dropped off to them two or three times a week. Most kids bring their own packed lunch.”
It was one of the many lessons Quinn and Brady learned from Keith.
“I really think my dad was a huge piece in both of them and instilling the confidence and the work ethic and the experience of what it actually takes to not just make the NHL but to take that next step and to be a good leader and to be a good teammate and to be good to the trainers and everything,” Matthew says.
“It’s hard to fathom Jack and I have a chance to win gold with Brady and Matthew,” Quinn says. “That would be special for both of our families.”
Quinn’s parents couldn’t be more appreciative of Keith and how he treated their son.
“It was my pleasure,” Keith says. “As much as I hope they learned from me, I learned a lot from them, and we had a blast.
“It was all sports. We loved watching hockey together. We loved talking about hockey. And Quinn’s a great kid. That was probably his first time away, especially from his parents. So it was basically the Keith Tkachuk School of Hard Knocks.”