{"id":427263,"date":"2026-01-25T11:33:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T11:33:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/427263\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T11:33:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T11:33:21","slug":"for-brady-and-matthew-tkachuk-the-olympics-are-a-dream-and-a-chance-to-build-on-a-family-legacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/427263\/","title":{"rendered":"For Brady and Matthew Tkachuk, the Olympics are a dream \u2014 and a chance to build on a family legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"

OTTAWA \u2014 These will be the first Olympics for Brady and Matthew Tkachuk. Well, kind of.<\/p>\n

The NHL star brothers were, in fact, in Torino 20 years ago. Brady was 6 and Matthew was 8, cheering on their father, Keith, who was playing in his fourth and final Olympics for Team USA.<\/p>\n

Next month in Milan, the roles will be reversed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pumped,\u201d Keith Tkachuk, 53, told The Athletic on Thursday. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of weird, looking back, and they were kids, and now I\u2019m going to see them play in it. I don\u2019t know what to say. It\u2019s awesome. It really is.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd for them to do it together, it\u2019s not like you have one kid, but both kids are going to experience it. I remember them (in Torino) when they were all geared up in USA gear, painted faces.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matthew, now a winger and two-time-reigning Stanley Cup champion for the Florida Panthers, described it as the time of their lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe coolest part of it all was one day off, my Dad \u2014 I don\u2019t know if you can even do this anymore \u2014 but got two passes for me and my brother to go into the village, and he just took us around the whole village,\u201d he recalled. \u201cWe buzzed around and just literally tried to take a picture with every single person we could that we knew of, whether it was hockey or \u2026 I remember we got one with Sasha Cohen, the figure skater.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a really cool picture with Ovechkin and Malkin when they were like 19 or 20 years old. That\u2019s still hung up in both of our rooms back in St. Louis. So I think that day is probably the thing I remember the most. I actually don\u2019t even remember any of his games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keith laughed at the memories, adding that he\u2019s not going to paint his face in Milan.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019m definitely going to enjoy this and have fun and enjoy seeing them play together and representing their country,\u201d Keith said.<\/p>\n

Growing up, the idea of being Olympic teammates wasn\u2019t a spoken goal for Brady and Matthew as much as it was a shared vision in the back of their minds. Playing for a Stanley Cup, playing for Olympic gold \u2014 those were normal childhood fantasies. But playing together?<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say it was much of a conversation,\u201d Brady Tkachuk, now the Ottawa Senators captain, told The Athletic as part of a lengthy TV interview that aired on \u201cThe Athletic Show\u201d on Amazon this weekend<\/a>. \u201cI mean, I think it just was a dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

That is, until the 4 Nations Face-Off in February 2025 \u2014 hockey\u2019s first best-on-best international event since 2016. Matthew and Brady both represented the U.S., and Brady remembers before the event, thinking, \u201cHoly cow. We\u2019re actually going to be playing on the same team, represent the USA. How awesome is that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, playing growing up, you\u2019re trying to score the game winner for the Stanley Cup, but right there, you\u2019re going for the gold medal, as well, and especially around when the U.S. is playing, that narrative for the game-winning goal goes from Game 7 Stanley Cup to that OT winner in the gold medal game,\u201d Brady added. \u201cThat\u2019s always been a dream. And those goals you score in the driveway and the mini sticks, that\u2019s for an event like the gold medal at the Olympics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watching the boys as Team USA teammates at 4 Nations was surreal for parents Keith and Chantal Tkachuk.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was more just finally seeing them play together,\u201d Keith said. \u201cWhich they always wanted to do and never had a chance to do since they were really small. Just to see how they interacted and being around each other and experiencing that together, that was more of a thrill than anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Team Canada won 4 Nations, but the Tkachuk brothers owned the event<\/a>. America couldn\u2019t get enough of them<\/a>, from the mayhem<\/a>\u00a0they helped stage to open the U.S.\u2019s round-robin game against Canada to their post-tournament talk-show tour.<\/p>\n

For a moment there, did they feel bigger than the Kardashians?<\/p>\n

Brady laughed at that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was just a lot more people tuning in, and I think that\u2019s what made the final even more of an event and a big moment,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a whirlwind after, but I think at the end of the day, we didn\u2019t accomplish what we wanted to, and I think it gives that much more fire \u2014 that much more drive to get it done in February.\u201d<\/p>\n

The number of people tuning in, of course, had something to do with how the tournament started, with three fights in the first nine seconds of U.S.-Canada at the Bell Centre in Montreal. The Tkachuk brothers revealed after the game that it was their idea, devised on a group chat earlier in the day.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Brady Tkachuk and Sam Bennett dropped the gloves to get the U.S.-Canada rivalry going at 4 Nations. (Minas Panagiotakis \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just kind of joked around about it, just like, \u2018Oh, we\u2019ve got to,\u2019\u201d Brady recalled. \u201cEspecially in the Bell Centre \u2026 we had (to) flip the table and just, I wouldn\u2019t say cause chaos, but no, we\u2019re Public Enemy No. 1 \u2014 our whole team. And we felt that even the days leading up to it that our whole team was going to be hated when we walked (into) that building. There wasn\u2019t going to be any support and that all we had was each other. So that was kind of the mindset going into it, that we wanted to show everybody how much of a team that we were and how we were going to do whatever it takes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was more nervous for Matthew\u2019s fight than my fight. And I guess we both didn\u2019t really realize the impact that moment and that game would\u2019ve had for future things. \u2026 We were just solely focused on the moment and how we\u2019re going to help our team get off to a good start.\u201d<\/p>\n

They did win that night but lost a week later in Boston in the championship game. Either way, the sport won.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat hockey at 4 Nations was the best hockey I\u2019ve ever seen live,\u201d Keith said. \u201cIt was incredible how many talented players were there. (The championship game) could have gone either way. Unfortunately, we lost, but I think they\u2019re going to have a great mindset going (into Milan). This could be anybody\u2019s tournament. When you get into a one-game elimination, anybody can win.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor them, and same for Canada, it\u2019s gold or bust in my mind. \u2026 All the eyes will be watching. It\u2019s a worldwide event. It\u2019s a big stage. And I think it\u2019s going to be fantastic.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

The Olympic stage. Brady\u2019s face lit up at the thought.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be able to say that you\u2019re an Olympian \u2014 all that hard work as a kid paying off \u2014 that\u2019ll be a dream come true right when we step on that ice,\u201d he said. \u201cBut there\u2019s going to be a main goal that we want to accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n

A gold medal win in Milan would be the first Olympic championship for Team USA since the 1980 Miracle on Ice. It would also be the first best-on-best championship since Keith Tkachuk was part of a 1996 World Cup of Hockey win at the Bell Centre, which changed the game forever.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a stepping stone, for sure, for USA Hockey go out there and win that tournament \u2014 especially being down one game in a best-of-three going into one of the most hostile places to play in Montreal,\u201d Keith said. \u201cI know what the 1980 Olympic team was for me, and I think that \u201996 win was huge for a lot of these players, even if some weren\u2019t born. Just the history. It was a huge step.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat team was pretty special. Not only did we have talent, but we had toughness. And I think that\u2019s something USA Hockey had never had. Although the rules are different in the Olympics, I think toughness goes a long way in terms of competing, and I think USA Hockey has that combination, which will give them a chance to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Keith Tkachuk helped the U.S. win the World Cup of Hockey in 1996. (Al Bello \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Brady and Matthew are hockey history buffs. The \u201996 World Cup win resonates for all kinds of reasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust look at the rosters of that \u201996 World Cup,\u201d Brady said. \u201cSome of the best players to ever play the game. And I think it\u2019s just super cool that the U.S. came on top with all the other rosters looking like that. So it\u2019s definitely been a long time coming for the U.S., winning a best-on-best. And for us, it\u2019s looking to change the tide and not have as long of a wait for the next one.\u201d<\/p>\n

The U.S.\u2019s 1980 Miracle on Ice still resonates, as well.<\/p>\n

How many times has Brady watched the movie \u201cMiracle,\u201d imagining himself on that stage?<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t even think I could give you a number,\u201d he said, smiling. \u201cEven during 4 Nations, we were watching it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brady\u2019s had a chance in recent years to\u00a0speak with Mike Eruzione, the captain of that U.S. team that knocked off the Soviet Union on its way to gold \u2014 picking his brain about the win and everything that went into it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was really cool that the hardest practice that they\u2019ve ever had was the day after the Soviet game,\u201d Brady said.<\/p>\n

The U.S. still had to beat Finland two days after its win over the Soviets to clinch gold, and coach Herb Brooks \u201cjust wanted to skate the excitement out of \u2019em that so they\u2019d just be focused on the next game,\u201d Brady said. \u201cAnd I think they\u2019re down again in that Finland game, and Herb said that they\u2019d take it to their grave if they didn\u2019t win that game.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s cool about that whole story is how big that Finland game the next day was, and how they\u2019re able to still get the job done, and the rest is history.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

The Tkachuk brothers want to give the U.S. another moment like that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have an opportunity to grow the game even more than it already has in the U.S.,\u201d Brady said. \u201cIt started with the 1980 Olympic team growing the game for the 1996 World Cup group, and then winning that, it grew the game even farther. And we have an opportunity to do that where a kid could be watching the Olympics and fall in love with hockey just by watching the success of our team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless of the outcome, it will be a family affair, a lifetime in the making.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so incredible that we\u2019re able to have this experience and have it together, and we just have to make it the best experience possible and ultimately finish the job and win it,\u201d Matthew said. \u201cI mean, I know my Dad played in four of them, but he would give up all four of those opportunities for us to win gold this year. So I mean, that\u2019s the goal, and I know him and the whole family is just so excited.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re champing at the bit. We\u2019ve been talking about this ever since we both got named in June. So the fact that it\u2019s like two weeks away, it doesn\u2019t seem like it\u2019s real how close it is.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OTTAWA \u2014 These will be the first Olympics for Brady and Matthew Tkachuk. Well, kind of. The NHL…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":427264,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[377],"tags":[57,5,52575,4,2602,25,273,84],"class_list":{"0":"post-427263","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hockey","8":"tag-florida-panthers","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-mens-olympic-hockey","11":"tag-nhl","12":"tag-olympics","13":"tag-ottawa-senators","14":"tag-sports-business","15":"tag-st-louis-blues"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115955525827614454","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=427263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427263\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/427264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=427263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=427263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=427263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}