He knows the feeling is pretty far from mutual, but Matthew Tkachuk really has a soft spot for Edmonton.
He loves being here, on account of all the warm, fuzzy memories it brings back.
“We were on the elevator going up to the room with eight guys who’ve all been here the last two years,” said the two-time Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers forward.
“We were all talking about how great of a feeling it was last year after winning that Game 5 here. It was probably one of the best feelings we’ve ever had after a game, knowing that we had a chance to win a Cup on home soil.
“The last two games here, (Brad Marchand’s) overtime winner and Game 5. I have nothing but good memories here.”
In fact, you might call it a second home. Tkachuk was doing the math and estimates that he and fellow former Flame Sam Bennett have probably played more games in Edmonton than any other non-Oiler player in the league.
“We’ve played so many games here with the (pandemic playoff) bubble, playing in Calgary, an (Oilers-Flames) playoff series there, and then two playoff series here. It’s been a lot.”
Of course, Tkachuk doesn’t have the same good vibrations about the Oilers. Even though the Panthers have hit a wall and been decimated by injuries and will miss the playoffs, playing the Oilers still gets them fired up.
“It’s hard not to get up for this one,” he said, adding it’s equal parts respect and dislike for Connor McDavid and the gang.
“There is a very big respect for each other going to the Cup Finals the last two years. But whenever that happens, it doesn’t matter who you play in a playoff series, there is going to be dislike.
“And when you play a team two years in a row, it doesn’t matter what round it’s in, the dislike just seems to ramp up.”
And, with that, Tkachuk tipped his hat and wished Edmonton the best.
“They’ve probably become our No. 1 rival just because of the magnitude of the games and where we’ve played them and the intensity of the last two playoffs. Great team over there, some incredible players and I’m sure they’re going to be right back there this year.”
For the Oilers, the feeling is respect and dislike is the same, but they’re still alive in the playoff race and have bigger cats to catch than the Panthers.
“The intensity right now is for making the playoffs,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch. “We have a lot of teams in the Pacific division that we want to either catch or teams below us. That’s where our focus is, winning hockey games so that we can get to the playoffs and hopefully have another playoff run.
“It doesn’t matter who the opposition is right now, the games are so important we need to win as many as possible. Yes, it’s a team that we saw in the Stanley Cup Final two years in a row but right now it’s so important to look at the standings.”
E-mail: rtychkowski@postmedia.com