Addressing the Brady Tkachuk Injury Controversy

Four days ago, I wrote about Brady Tkachuk taking over the hockey world. That was even before his performance in the finals, where he scored another goal and was one of the most noticeable players for either team. Now comes a different story. While the Ottawa Senators returned to hockey last night, Brady Tkachuk did not. He was too hurt to play in the Senators 5-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. While the Senators remain in a playoff spot, they did lose ground to several teams around them who picked up at least one point last night. Let’s dive into the details on what to make of the Brady Tkachuk situation.

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Tkachuk’s Team USA Heroics

Tkachuk earned himself plenty of new fans for his 4 Nations performance. Let’s face it, while Ottawa Senators fans have been able to enjoy his play over the last several years, he hasn’t played on the big stage for the rest of the hockey world to take notice. That all changed at the 4 Nations Face-Off. In four games (including the game against Sweden where he left after under two minutes of ice-time), he scored three goals on 15 shots. He also recorded 22 hits, some of them the type that had the whole crowd stand up. There was also his fight against Sam Bennett, the second of three fights in the first nine seconds of that game. Those fights were what set the tone for the USA-Canada rivalry that became the focal point of the tournament.

Myself, like many Senators fans, watched on in excitement at seeing Tkachuk play so well in a big game setting.How could you not envision Tkachuk playing exactly like this for the Senators in the playoffs? Of course, the Senators have to get there first. That’s where last night’s controversy came into play.

Tkachuk Sits Out

Senators fans have a right to be upset. This was a pretty basic four team tournament where the teams played three games each to decide the finals matchup. In a strange way, had it not been for Brady and Matthew Tkachuk, this tournament doesn’t get the hype and attention it ended up receiving. While the players were playing hard before the fights, seeing those guys willing to drop the gloves made it all seem even bigger and more meaningful.

What makes this tough for Senators fans is that they all watched Tkachuk play just a few nights ago at such a high level. He was given 34 shifts, more than any forward on either team. He threw five hits, tied for the most of any player in the game. His four shots were also tied for the most among USA players.

Every game matters for the Ottawa Senators right now. You had Arber Xhekaj ready to go to war with Brady Tkachuk last night. Instead, it was Tim Stützle who was forced to battle it out with Xhekaj all night. Had Tkachuk played the finals of the tournament and played last night, there would be no problem. Had he sat out the finals and sat out last night, again, no problem. The optics here make it awkward. Now it’s up to Tkachuk to get back in the lineup and show himself to be the leader and dominant player that this team needs right now.