MILAN – This is actually the second Olympics that Matthew and Brady Tkachuk remember representing the United States.

In these 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games, the Mike Sullivan-described “heart and soul” of the U.S. Olympic team have combined for two goals and six assists in three victories, helping to lead the Americans into the quarterfinals Wednesday night against the winner of Tuesday’s Sweden-Latvia game.

But 20 years ago, Matthew and Brady were also in Italy for the 2006 Olympics, only 80 miles away in Torino. As 8- and 6-year-olds covered in red, white and blue, they often had American flags painted on their faces. They were running around the Olympic village, just like they are now.

“Not sure how we got into the Olympic village,” Brady Tkachuk recalled, “but we somehow did.”

Matthew Tkachuk, almost 22 months older than Brady, remembers how it happened.

His dad, U.S. hockey Hall of Famer Keith Tkachuk, was in his fourth and final Olympics. He got two passes for Matthew and Brady and took them to tour the village one day.

“I don’t know if you can even do that anymore,” Matthew Tkachuk told The Athletic. “We buzzed around the whole village and just literally tried to take a picture with every single person we could that we knew of, whether it was hockey or anybody else. I remember we got one with Sasha Cohen, the figure skater. I don’t know why I remember that. We went right up to speed skaters and skiers, bobsledders and lugers and curlers, and of course hockey players.

“We have a really cool picture with (Alex) Ovechkin and (Evgeni) Malkin when they were like 19 or 20 years old. That’s still hung up in both of our rooms back in St. Louis. I know we’re in the Olympics, but that is probably my favorite memory I have of the Olympics. I actually don’t even remember any of my dad’s games. I remember being there and making signs and wearing our flag proudly, but the games, I don’t even remember.”

“The Ovi and Geno picture is the moment right there that stands out to me the most,” Brady added.

This time around, Matthew and Brady continue to go around the village and introduce themselves to every athlete, asking them who they are and what they do.

There are figure skaters and speed skaters everywhere, and of course, hockey players.

“I mean, it brings you back,” Matthew, rooming with Brady in what they’ve dubbed “Club Tkachuk,” said. “I never went to college, but it’s like a college dorm experience and it’s all of us on the same floor. Then we have the men’s and women’s team in the same building. We have a hangout area and then just every American athlete has their own separate lounge area and it’s just been absolutely incredible so far. Trying to meet and say hi to every American athlete that I’ve seen so far. I know a lot of them are competing and stuff, but we’ll try to meet the rest of them for sure. They’ve been amazing.”

The Tkachuk family attended the Torino Winter Olympics in 2006 to watch Keith Tkachuk represent the U.S. in men’s hockey. (Courtesy of the Tkachuk family)

It has been a blast for the Tkachuks to get to know the talented women’s national team, who will be going for their third all-time gold medal Thursday night against Canada.

But there was just something special about that time running around Torino as kids.

“I don’t remember what events we went to, though,” Brady said. “But it was a blast.”

“I remember that they had a really cool USA Hockey House that we’d go to after I would say every game and hang out with all the families,” said Matthew. “And it was just a way to celebrate each game. That was really cool. I remember they had video games for the kids. We didn’t get to see our dad a lot, but that was always a way to see him.”

One of the biggest memories Matthew has was actually a scary one.

“My uncle Kevin, my dad’s brother, took me up north a few hours to ski,” Matthew recalled. “My mom, Brady, maybe my grandpa stayed at the bottom. Well, me and my uncle got lost on the slopes and it took us three or four hours to find the base. There was no phone service or I don’t even know if they had phones there, but I remember that was crazy.

“But also while we were skiing, there was an event going on there, too. So I remember that was just a crazy moment like, ‘Oh my God, we’re lost, but now we kind of found where we are by skiing right next to a slalom event.’ That was pretty insane.

“Finally, we found our way down. I remember being nervous that we were lost, not that I was going to die with my uncle on the mountain though. But thank God we found that Olympic event and basically wound up skiing down the mountain next to it.”

Fittingly, it was Brady, the Americans’ best player at last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off, who scored the first goal of this Olympic tournament for the Americans. Matthew assisted on it, but Brady skated away from him for the celly.

“I was honestly like, ‘Are you really gonna celebrate away from me right now?’” Matthew said. “Then I grabbed him. To assist on your brother’s goal, the first goal, to be the first goal for our team. A memory that’s gonna last a lifetime, that’s for sure.”

“It’s a pretty cool feeling scoring for your country,” Brady said. “You get so much energy from this crowd and feel the support and it’s truly been an amazing experience.”

It’s well known how proud Matthew and Brady are to be American. It was instilled in them as kids watching their dad star for the United States in several international tournaments. Keith Tkachuk also has the second-most goals in NHL history for a U.S.-born player.

“We’ve got some incredible support from people across the whole country. Probably all over the world out here supporting us,” Matthew said. “We hear those USA chants. You can’t ever explain the feeling that you feel on the ice or on the bench. It’s like the most incredible thing you could ever imagine. That’s why we do what we do.”

“It’s truly bigger than ourselves,” added Brady. “We’re playing for the flag.”

Keith Tkachuk, pictured here with his three children in Torino, said he would give up his four Olympic experiences to see his boys with a gold medal around their necks. (Courtesy of the Tkachuk family)

Sullivan said Matthew and Brady “personify what it means to be an American, with their fierce competitive spirit. I thought they were the catalyst for our team becoming the team in that sense of the word (at the 4 Nations).”

There’s a sense of pride that Matthew and Brady are a set of brothers striving for the Olympic gold medal that eluded their father. They live across the hall at the Village from the Hughes brothers, Quinn and Jack, two of their longtime best buddies.

Keith says he’d give up his four Olympic experiences to see his boys with a gold medal around their necks by late Sunday afternoon.

First things first: they have to get through the quarters.

“To be able to do this at this high a stage, I mean, nobody ever thought when they were young kids that something like this would be possible,” Keith said. “I’m just so proud of the boys. They worked their butts off to get here to this point. And it’s really fun to see them doing something they love to do, getting compensated really well and having a positive effect, both on and off the ice. And growing the game, especially for USA Hockey. I just look back at those days at the U.S. National Team Development Program and I just pinch myself how lucky it was for them to grow up in that environment.

“Hopefully they get a chance to win a gold medal.”

And how cool would that be? Twenty years after two proud American children got to spend the 2006 Olympics with their dad so close to where they are now in Italy.

“Who would have thought?” said Matthew. “A dream. It really is.”