
‘They responded in the right way’: How a canceled trip to see U2 helped turn around the Predators’ season
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Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporterMar 14, 2024, 07:10 AM ET
Close- Ryan S. Clark is an NHL reporter for ESPN.
SEATTLE — Practically everyone in hockey has heard that the Nashville Predators‘ trip to see U2 in February at the Sphere in Las Vegas was canceled because of how poorly the team was playing at that time.
They’d lost six of eight games before the NHL All-Star break and would lose two of their next three games after returning from the break. They allowed more than four goals in eight straight games and lost seven of those games, including a 9-2 loss to the Dallas Stars on Feb. 15 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
“We’re having trouble getting our mind around what’s important and that’s hockey,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette told reporters after that seven-goal loss to the Stars. “It’s not everything else that goes around hockey. It’s the game of hockey. I don’t know if we’re understanding the importance that our mind has to be in the game and it can’t be in our vacations.”
A message needed to be sent. That prompted Brunette and Predators general manager Barry Trotz to deliver one by canceling the team trip to see U2.
Thanks to Ryan O’Reilly, there’s another story about the Predators, Las Vegas and U2 that has a much different ending.
Back on Feb. 20, the day after they would have seen the concert, the Predators had a game against the Vegas Golden Knights. A smiling O’Reilly shared recently how an unnamed teammate got clever and started playing U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” as the Preds were coming into the dressing room after morning skate.
The irony in playing that U2 song is the music video shows the band performing and walking the streets of Las Vegas.
“We all just started dying,” O’Reilly recalled. “Trotzy was not there. I don’t think any of the coaches heard it, but all the guys in the room were all laughing about it. It was pretty funny.”
This would be the start of a turnaround for the Predators.
IT WAS AROUND this time a year ago when the Predators were in a completely different place — with little to laugh about.
A franchise that had already gone through quite a few changes by the trade deadline was on the verge of going through even more. They would miss the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons and headed into the offseason hoping some combination of a rebuild, restructure and/or a retool would see them return to the postseason sooner rather than later.
What Trotz did over the offseason created a belief that the Predators could be ahead of schedule with their plans.
The story of the Preds’ season was that they would start seeing some success only for progress to slip away.
That’s what made canceling that team trip to U2 so necessary from the perspective of coaches and management.
It was a bold move, and could have had one of two distinct outcomes: Either they could have spiraled, or used it as an intervention to save their season.
“We sort of addressed that and you saw the response,” Trotz said. “That says a lot about your group and the men that are in that room. It’s the response to our actions after the All-Star break and with the leadership they had, they responded in the right way.”
What gets lost in O’Reilly’s story is the context of what happened after the Predators heard U2 in their dressing room. They beat the Golden Knights for their second straight win in what turned into an eight-game winning streak that has since become their current 15-game points streak.
The streak itself is proof the Predators have found the consistency within their system that eluded them at times this season. That consistency has allowed them to create separation in the Western Conference wild-card race. Seeing that type of commitment and those results is what prompted Trotz to add a pair of top-six wingers at the trade deadline.
Above all, the streak has shown the power of patience and transparency for a franchise that’s gone through several big changes in the past 12 months.
“It was a lot of change all at once. Player personnel, coaching, management. It was kind of the whole gamut,” Predators center Colton Sissons said. “But when you bring in good people and great coaches like Bruno and really high character guys like O’Reilly, [Gustav] Nyquist and [Luke] Schenn who have been leaders on other teams and have had great careers, you’re able to turn things around pretty quick.”
REACHING THE PLAYOFFS hadn’t been the issue for the Predators in recent seasons. Getting beyond the first round was. They had been knocked out in the first round or qualifying round in their four most recent postseason appearances.
It forced the Preds in February 2023 to make a decision about their future, and they believed making changes could help them win even more.
David Poile, the only GM in franchise history, announced he was retiring. Trotz, the first coach in team history, would take over. That set the stage for the Predators to move on from Mattias Ekholm, Mikael Granlund, Tanner Jeannot and Nino Niederreiter ahead of the 2023 trade deadline, when they added quite a bit of draft capital.
Despite the subtractions, the Predators finished three points shy of the final wild card — without two of their best players in Filip Forsberg and captain Roman Josi. Forsberg sustained a season-ending concussion on Feb. 11, while Josi also was diagnosed with a concussion in mid-March that saw him miss the final weeks of the regular season.
Trotz remained aggressive in the offseason. He hired Brunette, who was an assistant with the New Jersey Devils, in May. He bought out Matt Duchene and traded Ryan Johansen. Duchene had three years left on an eight-year contract that saw him earn $8 million annually. Johansen, who also had an eight-year deal worth $8 million a year, was moved with two years left and the Predators retaining 50 percent salary.
Moving on from Duchene and Johansen gave the Preds more financial flexibility.
“I think what we did last year was sort of a retool,” Trotz said. “I felt it was really important. We had too many people that were comfortable. We knew we were going to have a real young team coming up. We’ve got a really good [AHL] team in Milwaukee. Obviously, on July 1 we picked up a couple of cultural pieces in O’Reilly, Nyquist and Schenn to really help our young guys.”
Signing those veterans was partly motivated by discussions Trotz had with other GMs who had been in a similar situation. Trotz recalled that one of them said his biggest regret was not keeping veteran players around who could help shape a team’s culture during a retool.
“He said, ‘Our thought was to let the kids play and just go from there,'” Trotz said. “But what happened was the kids didn’t develop because they were trying to survive and just couldn’t develop. So you need to insulate some of those young guys.”
That became even more evident with how the Predators ended last season. Trotz said watching veteran and two-time Stanley Cup winner Ryan McDonagh lead a young team that was missing Forsberg and Josi made him appreciate the value of having experienced players who could mentor younger teammates.
Having those veterans, coupled with young players such as Dante Fabbro, Cody Glass, Luke Evangelista and Tommy Novak, among others, is why Trotz was open about the team’s chances and goals. He told reporters and others that the team could be “not that good” or “sneaky good,” but that it was about getting better for the future.
Trotz’s transparency extended to Brunette and the players. Trotz told O’Reilly, Nyquist and Schenn that he wanted them to feel comfortable voicing their thoughts to him whether they saw something good or bad within the team. He also told Brunette that he wanted to be there for him, but not be over his shoulder because he had faith that Brunette could guide the Predators to the next phase in their plan.
In fact, Trotz went to visit the Predators’ AHL team after this year’s trade deadline so he could tell their prospects they’re also going to have a part to play in the club’s success.
“He is someone you can talk to and I think it’s pretty valuable for him to have been a coach for a number of years, knowing what it’s like inside a locker room over a season. He’s been there and he’s done that,” Nyquist said. “Not a lot of GMs probably can say that they’ve been in the locker room and have gone through that. He’s been a great voice of reason and found a way to form this team into something new.”
Trotz changed a roster that had been largely rooted in consistency for several years. Josi said all the changes meant the Predators felt like they were a new team coming into the season. Josi is one of eight players still on the roster from when the Predators last made the playoffs back in 2021-22.
“As someone who has been here for a long time, it’s a different team for sure,” said Josi, who has been with the club since 2011. “But the guys we brought in were quality people. That’s the first thing. It’s guys who’ve been leaders on teams. … I think you need that with a lot of young guys coming up. It made my job real easy this year. We have five or six guys who are leading this team. That’s a huge help.”
PRACTICE DAYS CAN be optional in the NHL, with the understanding that everyone is going to do some sort of work. As the Predators get in a practice at Climate Pledge Arena, the players who are not on the ice are still doing workouts.
All of them are wearing a navy blue hat that has “Relentless” in cursive across the front. This has become the credo for how the Predators are approaching their business.
“The way we’ve been playing, everybody’s been playing the same way within their different skill sets, I think,” Josi said. “Everyone brings something different to the table but we’re all playing the same. Every line is relentless. Every line is backchecking. Our forwards are doing an amazing job with back pressure and forechecking. That’s relentless.”
Every player from Josi to Nyquist to O’Reilly to Sissons used “relentless” at least twice to describe what has made the Predators different during the past several weeks.
Josi said the Predators were able to reach that stage of their evolution because Brunette was patient with them, and his belief in the group never wavered. Brunette joked that the Preds never deviated from the system because of stubbornness.
“I don’t think it was ever a question of buy-in. It was an understanding of ‘Why is he asking me to do this? Why is he asking me to put all this work in? Why is he asking this?’ And you’re not seeing the rewards,” Brunette explained. “That’s always the hard thing. But once they started seeing the rewards and why I was asking to skate that hard, to work that hard, they started to see why.”
During Brunette’s time as the interim coach of the Florida Panthers in 2021-22 and as a Devils assistant last season, his teams scored goals — lots of them. The Panthers averaged a league-high 4.11 goals per game in Brunette’s lone season in South Florida, while the Devils were tied for fourth with 3.52 in 2022-23.
Having such prolific attacks overshadowed Brunette’s defensive philosophies. He said those systems have never been only about offense. It’s about finding ways to play with quickness by moving the puck faster, skating faster and transitioning faster, with the hope that it can lead to having the puck more.
Brunette and his coaching staff have implemented a system in Nashville that relies on all five players doing whatever they can to gain possession.
In order for the system to work there needs to be a checking mentality, which can play a major role in getting and then keeping possession for as long as possible.
Working as a collective has yielded results over their points streak. In that time, the Predators are scoring a league-high 4.33 goals per game. They’re tied for the fewest goals allowed per game, at 1.93. They’re fourth in shots on goal per game, and are 10th in fewest shots on goal allowed per game.
“Our game has been pretty constant all year. We just didn’t always get rewarded for it,” Brunette said. “Until we had that little bit after the break when we had three games when we didn’t play really well. That was our worst stretch of hockey. We were able to find our game and when we found it, we worked hard to keep it.”
Brunette said that’s what made canceling the U2 trip a hard decision. His experience as a player allowed him to appreciate what it meant to have fun with teammates. But it also allowed him to understand that the only way to have fun is to put hockey first.
“We weren’t on our game and we had to get our game going before we could have some fun,” Brunette said. “That’s almost the premise of our whole team identity. Put the work in and then we can have fun.”
Fun for the Predators can be measured in more ways than playing U2 in the locker room for a laugh, or getting a point in 15 straight games. Josi, O’Reilly and Sissons said they’ve had fun watching young players such as Novak get a three-year extension for his contributions, or seeing a rookie like Evangelista become a more well-rounded player beyond the 15 goals he’s scored this season.
Even the trade deadline is an example of that fun. A year ago, Sissons was watching some of his friends go to other teams. This year, he watched the Predators give him a pair of new wingers in Anthony Beauvillier and Jason Zucker, in a season that could also see Sissons hit the 40-point mark for the first time in his career.
“It happened pretty quick and we probably changed our mindset coming up to the deadline after a tough scenario with us canceling a team trip to Vegas everybody heard about,” Sissons said. “We rallied around each other and really came together. When you can be one of those teams that can add at the deadline, that says a lot from the management in that, ‘Hey, we believe in you guys and we want to give you the opportunity here.'”
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Sports
Matthew and Brady Tkachuk on Olympic gold, Canada rivalry and new NHL CBA
Published
35 mins agoon
August 11, 2025By
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Greg WyshynskiAug 11, 2025, 07:00 AM ET
Close- Greg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer.
When Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk raised the Stanley Cup over his head for the second straight season, the on-ice celebration included two of the most important people in his life: Father Keith Tkachuk, who played 18 seasons in the NHL; and brother Brady Tkachuk, captain of the Ottawa Senators.
Keith was smoking cigars and hoisting the Cup with Matthew around the arena. Brady was holding a beer and diligently avoiding contact with the Cup, as superstition dictates that an NHL player should never touch it if they’ve never won it before.
The celebration was another memorable moment for the Tkachuk boys and their father. This month, another one arrived: The trio graces the cover of EA Sports’ NHL 26 Deluxe Edition.
“Growing up, Matthew and I dreamed of playing just like our dad,” Brady Tkachuk said. “Even now, his influence on how we play and prepare remains huge. It’s an honor to be featured on the cover. Having him standing alongside us makes the whole thing even better.”
We spoke with Matthew and Brady Tkachuk recently about their video game history, the Panthers’ wild offseason, Brady’s future in Ottawa, Matthew’s health heading into next season and their thoughts on the new NHL collective bargaining agreement.
But first, we asked two of the first players named to the 2026 U.S. men’s Olympic ice hockey team about chasing gold. Responses were edited for length and clarity.
You guys became USA Hockey legends after the 4 Nations Face-Off, if you weren’t already. Obviously, the tournament did not end the way Americans wanted. Is winning Olympic gold in the 2026 Winter Games in Italy the ultimate revenge on our friends in Canada?
MATTHEW TKACHUK: I don’t even know if you look at it as revenge, but it’s been a long time coming since USA Hockey’s been at the top of the mountain. Canada’s owned the Olympics or World Cups or even the world championships, although we got that back a little bit this year. They’ve been the leader in all of that and the team that we’ve all been trying to knock off.
I don’t think it’d be as much as revenge than showing how far along USA Hockey has come. We’ve had some incredible players and national teams that we’ve looked up to our whole lives but that haven’t gotten the job done. So, not only would winning [gold] accomplish dreams for us, but hopefully it would bring a lot of satisfaction for those guys that paved the way for us.
Brady, you play in a Canadian city while trying to win Olympic gold for the Americans. What’s that dynamic like?
BRADY TKACHUK: Learning from experience, it’s a little bit of a different position to be in. All the people that support you on a day-to-day basis, now they don’t want you to win.
Your dream as kids is winning the Stanley Cup and winning a gold medal for your country. I know that’s always been our two main goals. But we got into hockey, and a lot of people got into hockey, from the 1980 Miracle on Ice. And now, we have an opportunity to pave the way for the next generation of kids in the U.S. that maybe wouldn’t be playing hockey if they didn’t get to experience USA Hockey in the Winter Olympics and potential gold medals.
There’s not just playing for ourselves in that locker room with that group, but you’re really playing for your country and you’re playing for the next generation of kids. And like Matthew said, you’re playing for the guys that have paved the way, that are to be so supportive and fired up to be watching.
You guys are NHL 26 cover athletes, along with your dad. We spoke to Keith recently, who reminisced about seeing the glow of a video game screen under the doors of your bedrooms, whether it was when you were younger or in Matt’s case, when he was playing in Calgary. What’s your brief history of playing video games together?
MATTHEW TKACHUK: Yeah, we would play. I think during COVID was probably the last time I religiously played, and that was when we were all under one roof before I had my house in St. Louis. Brady and I played a lot. NHL is definitely one of them. I think Brady has played more throughout his life than I have, and that was one of the things that he was much better at than I am. So, I didn’t really play too much against him.
We played the game like how you’d probably expect us to play: Turn off all the penalties, make all the guys really big and fast. It was like prison rules NHL. So, it was a lot of fun.
BRADY TKACHUK: I honestly feel like we had a pretty religious routine. Right after school, if it was a nice day, out for roller hockey then dinner and then we were playing NHL. We try to sneak in a best-of-seven if it was early enough, but it was a lot of fun. Either we played together or most of the time, we’re playing together against each other and it was a ton of fun.
Now that you’re in the NHL, what is the level of interest or concern among the boys when it comes to their EA Sports ratings? Do they still care?
MATTHEW TKACHUK: We don’t talk about it too much. I know that there’s one day, maybe it might be at the beginning of the year, which I guess is coming up here soon, where you go over your rating or you guess another player’s rating. I think where they get pissed off is when you guess their rating and it’s way lower than their actual rating is.
You’ve got to be careful with who the sensitive guys are on the team because you don’t want that to actually affect them — and you never know if it might. Hockey players are proud athletes. You want to have a decent rating.
BRADY TKACHUK: I’m probably one of the guys that will just play a game as the Sens to see where my rating is at, to see how good my guy is. This version is exciting because it’s more individual-based. You can see within the game how I am in real life, and that’s really cool and unique.
These ratings are always fun. And to be honest with you, I don’t know what the rating is going into this year’s game. I know they give a midyear bump and that’s the goal: That hopefully I get a midyear bump because that means I’m playing well.
Matthew, your name was recently listed by the White House as being part of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition, joining names like Wayne Gretzky and Mariano Rivera. How did you get involved in that?
MATTHEW TKACHUK: I’m not actually allowed to comment on that until it’s official yet. So, I have to wait on that a little bit. But I promise in a few weeks, if that comes true, I’ll answer that for you.
Let’s talk about something that did come true: The Florida Panthers somehow hanging on to Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad and Brad Marchand as free agents. How shocked were you that GM Bill Zito was able to pull that off?
MATTHEW TKACHUK: I don’t know if I was shocked. I think at the time, as a player and more importantly as a friend, you’re more worried that one of your buddies is going to go elsewhere. At the end of the day, you want your teammates and your best buddies to be happy with whatever decision they make. So, if that’s chasing a ton of money or if that’s going to where they want to play, you just got to be happy for them.
The best part about those three is they all believe in what we’re doing in Florida. They want to live in Florida, they want to play on a good team, and they want to have a great group of players surrounding them.
Out of all of them, I was most confident in [Ekblad] staying the most. Just because he’s been a lifelong Florida Panther. I just think it was going to be impossible for him to leave. And then the other guys … I mean, this was a chance for them to cash in. You just didn’t know if it was going to be with us or not.
I was surprised, though, that they were all able to stay. I thought that with the way the money was tied up, you didn’t know if it was going to be possible — and somehow it was. Everybody was taken care of so well.
Bill did a great job of making sure it could happen. You want your best buddies to be rewarded with how great they played and how great they’ve been up to this point. I think they all got rewarded very well, and I’m just so excited to have a chance to hopefully run it back with them this year.
When did you know about Marchand? Was it when he was smoking cigars on the back of a golf cart outside of the Elbo Room? At some point, were you just convinced the guy liked it down there vs. leaving as a free agent?
MATTHEW TKACHUK: Marchand, when he first got traded, I would’ve thought there was never a chance that we’re going to be able to keep everybody. As time goes on and you have success and you get to know guys and you get to know what their wants and desires are with the rest of their career — or where they want to live — you can start connecting the dots. People just don’t want to leave Florida when they come. I think that that is the case with them and everybody that’s been there.
The only time you’re going to see guys leave is if it’s such a crazy difference with money. Some of these guys that we’ve had the last few years have really cashed in with other teams, which we’re so happy to see. I think that’s really the only way you’re going to see guys go elsewhere.
We have too good of a thing going right now, and everybody wants to be a part of it.
Brady, your dad threw cold water on all the speculation about you leaving Ottawa when we spoke recently. How much did making the playoffs, showing the progress of the Senators, give you a sense of relief that maybe some of that speculation might go by the wayside now?
BRADY TKACHUK: Yeah, I think we really needed to make the playoffs to show everybody that we’re a team that’s capable of that, but also capable of doing more than just making the playoffs.
The last couple of years, it was kind of stagnant. We had high expectations and we didn’t quite accomplish what we needed to. And with that came doubt. But I think it showed with the steps that we took last year that we have a great hockey team. I think that we’re kind of just getting started with what we want to accomplish. Playoffs are great to get to, but that’s not our end goal. The sky’s the limit for our group.
I think [that success] helped with all the speculation. When things aren’t going well, people are always assuming or trying to think in my shoes. But I was kind of never really in that thought process. It was all about sticking it out. It’s been a long time coming, for not just our team but the city, to get into the playoffs. And I think it was really important to me to end that drought.
Through all that adversity that we faced with being the bottom five teams to finally get to the playoffs was an amazing feeling. But now that we got there, I think everybody wants a little bit more and wants to accomplish all of our childhood dreams.
Obviously, the season is getting closer. Brady, we saw you were training with Trevor Zegras this summer. What are your thoughts about him getting a fresh start in Philadelphia with the Flyers?
BRADY TKACHUK: Yeah, I drove up to Connecticut and skated with him. I’ve known ‘Z’ throughout the years but got to know him pretty well when we played world championships together. He’s a great guy, and I think it’s going to be great for him to get a fresh start in Philly and under Rick Tocchet. They have a great culture there, and I think he’s just going to do a good job of fitting in.
I’ve always thought playing against Philly that they play super hard, but they have a lot of great players with skill. So, I think that is going to be the best thing for him. I’m excited to see his progression this year and see how the change affects him. I bet that’s going to be for the good.
Matthew, you were dealing with some significant injuries by the end of last season and said it was “50/50” regarding offseason surgery. What’s your path for the next few months? Are you still hoping to maybe hit the ice in October?
MATTHEW TKACHUK: I’m still hoping to hit the ice as soon as possible. If I do get the surgery, it definitely will be the first two, maybe three months [of the season] if that’s the case. But it’s still undecided at this point.
Finally, the NHL and NHLPA have signed off on a new collective bargaining agreement. We haven’t heard from many players about this deal. What did you like? What did you wish was in it that didn’t make the cut?
BRADY TKACHUK: I think Marty [Walsh], Ron Hainsey and the NHLPA did a really good job. A lot of it came behind the scenes with the NHL. They kept it discreet.
I think it’s important that we did a four-year deal and to navigate where our league is in four years’ time. Obviously, there’s things that will probably trend and want maybe more of in four years’ time. But I think the changes that they made are exciting. The 84-game schedule [means] more hockey for people to come and watch. I think it’s going to be good.
Less preseason crap, too.
MATTHEW TKACHUK: Took the words right out of my mouth.
That’s the one main thing I like. I’ve never liked the preseason setup. I mean, guys do a great job of coming into [camp] in shape. There are the captain’s skates before the preseason because everyone wants to get back and see the boys. So, I think preseason has been overrated. It’s way too long, and the games are way too much. However they were able to shorten that, I was on board with that for sure.
Just get into the season. Just get on with it.
Sports
Tkachuk: Could miss 2 or 3 months with surgery
Published
35 mins agoon
August 11, 2025By
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Greg WyshynskiAug 8, 2025, 03:32 PM ET
Close- Greg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer.
Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk said he remains undecided about getting surgery before the 2025-26 season but acknowledged he could miss significant time should he require it.
Tkachuk, 27, revealed after the season that he sustained a torn adductor muscle and a sports hernia injury while playing for Team USA in the 4 Nations Face-Off in February. He missed the final 25 games of the NHL regular season but returned for Game 1 of the Panthers’ first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tkachuk had 23 points (8 goals, 15 assists) in 23 games during the playoffs, including seven points in the final against Edmonton, to lead the Panthers to their second straight Stanley Cup championship.
Coach Paul Maurice said his star forward was “a mess” healthwise heading into the postseason.
“We weren’t hopeful at the start that he would survive the first round,” he said.
Tkachuk said after the season that it was “50/50” whether he’d have surgery, adding that the offseason provided ample time to make that call. Tkachuk told ESPN on Friday that “I’m still hoping to hit the ice as soon as possible.” Should he decide to go under the knife, Tkachuk said, it’s likely he’ll miss multiple months of action.
“If I do get the surgery, it’ll definitely be the first two or maybe three months if that’s the case. But it’s still undecided at this point,” said the Panthers star, whose contract and cap hit could be placed on long-term injured reserve during his recovery.
It’s been a notable offseason for Tkachuk. He appears on the cover of EA Sports’ NHL 26 and is featured with brother Brady and father Keith on the cover of the game’s deluxe edition.
Matthew and Brady Tkachuk were among the first six players named to the 2026 U.S. men’s Olympic hockey roster for the Winter Games in Italy next year. Matthew Tkachuk also married fiancée Ellie Connell in July.
All of that was after another epic, multiday Stanley Cup celebration by the Panthers in Fort Lauderdale and Miami that featured spontaneous appearances at bars, clubs and beaches as well as a championship parade.
The Panthers’ chances for a third straight Stanley Cup received a boost this summer when GM Bill Zito was able to re-sign a trio of star veteran free agents: center Sam Bennett (8 years, $64 million), defenseman Aaron Ekblad (8 years, $48 million), and winger Brad Marchand (6 years, $31.5 million).
Tkachuk said that he wasn’t surprised that all three players wanted to remain with the Panthers but that he was amazed that Zito found a way to make the money work under the salary cap.
“I thought that the way the money was tied up, you didn’t know it was going to be possible, and somehow it was,” he said. “Everybody was taken care of so well, and Bill did a great job of making sure it could happen. I think they all got rewarded very well, and I’m just so excited to have a chance to hopefully run it back with them this year.”
Tkachuk said he was confident that Ekblad would return, having been a Panther since he was drafted by Florida first overall in 2014. He was a little less certain about Bennett and especially Marchand, who both had a chance to break the bank in free agency.
“When Marchand first got traded [at the deadline this spring], I would’ve thought there was never a chance that we were going to be able to keep everybody. But as time goes on and you have success and you get to know guys’ wants and desires for the rest of their career, you can start connecting the dots,” Tkachuk said. “People just don’t want to leave Florida when they come [here]. We have too good of a thing going right now, and everybody wants to be a part of it.”
Sports
Mammoth file lawsuit against bag manufacturer
Published
35 mins agoon
August 11, 2025By
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Associated Press
Aug 7, 2025, 04:01 PM ET
SALT LAKE CITY — The owners of the NHL’s Utah Mammoth have filed a lawsuit against a hockey equipment bag manufacturer to settle a trademark dispute.
The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Utah claims the Mammoth and Mammoth Hockey LLC have reached a stalemate in the trademark fight.
“Utah Mammoth and the NHL believe strongly that we have the right to use the name Utah Mammoth under federal and state law, and that our use will not harm the defendant or its business in any way,” Smith Entertainment Group officials said in a statement. “We have taken this action only after careful consideration based on the defendant’s position.”
The Mammoth announced the new name and logo in May following the team’s first season in Utah. The team used the name Utah Hockey Club for its first season after moving from Arizona to Salt Lake City.
Oregon-based Mammoth Hockey issued a cease-and-desist letter not long after the new franchise name was unveiled, claiming potential customers would confuse the two brands and fans of rival teams would not purchase its products. The team and the company both have mammoth-shaped logos, and are associated with “Mammoth” and “hockey,” according to the letter.
Mammoth Hockey launched in 2014 and manufactures large equipment bags geared toward hockey players.
“Mammoth Hockey intends to vigorously defend the litigation recently commenced against it by Utah Mammoth of the National Hockey League and protect its longstanding trademark used in connection with the hockey goods it has manufactured and sold for the past 10 years,” Mammoth Hockey co-founder Erik Olson said in a statement to the Deseret News.
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Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
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Sports2 years ago
Button battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
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Environment2 years ago
Japan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
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Environment2 years ago
Game-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike