‘He’s a one-of-a-kind player’: Why Matthew Tkachuk is the star South Florida needed
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Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporter
Could Matthew Tkachuk become the biggest hockey star to ever come through South Florida?
And in some ways, is he already there?
Perhaps asking such a question is premature. Even a bit hyperbolic, or at least a manifestation of recency bias. How can someone who is on the verge of finishing his first campaign with the Florida Panthers — a franchise that has had more than 440 players over its near 30-year history — already create this sort of discussion?
Maybe it has more to do with the realization Tkachuk might be unlike anyone the Panthers have ever seen.
“To look at all the players who have come through this organization, Pavel Bure cannot compare to him,” said Bill Lindsay, who spent seven seasons with the Panthers and is now a member of the team’s broadcast crew. “Jonathan Huberdeau — they are night and day different players. Brad Marchand is a comparable around the league somewhat in that he plays with that edge.
“He’s changed the trajectory of this franchise. To me, he is unique. Of all the players who have come through here, he’s a one-of-a-kind player.”
Markets such as South Florida face a constant crucible from the outside world when it comes to how hockey is valued. All the familiar talking points have shadowed the franchise for the majority of its existence.
Not enough fans. Not enough long-term success to create generational fandom. There are too many entertainment options in South Florida. The Panthers play in an arena that is closer to the Everglades Wildlife Management Area than Fort Lauderdale.
Yet Tkachuk’s arrival has hushed a number of those criticisms, while offering context to those who are not familiar with how sports fandom works in South Florida. It’s a market that isn’t always invested in every single game of a team’s schedule. What does enthrall South Florida, however, is when something is an event.
This is why Formula One is there. It’s why the NFL makes it a Super Bowl destination. It’s why the Orange Bowl is a College Football Playoff/New Year’s Six Bowl Game option.
Watching Tkachuk play hockey is an event. Watching Tkachuk in a press conference is an event. Watching Tkachuk on “Inside the NBA” is an event. Watching him talk about what it meant to be in People Magazine is an event.
“He has everything you’d want,” said Dave Hyde, the longtime columnist at the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “He’s funny. He’s personable. He’s very much a team player. He’s a big scorer. He fights. This was a quiet, cute Panthers team a year ago when they led the league in [points in] the regular season. They didn’t have a real loud personality. Now, their leading scorer has a fire to him that you don’t have to understand hockey to understand what is going on. In that measure, he’s perfect in that he transcends hockey.”
South Florida has seen hockey stars before. Bure, Dino Ciccarrelli, Jaromir Jagr, Igor Larionov, Roberto Luongo and Joe Nieuwendyk are Hall of Famers. Joe Thornton will eventually join that list. All of them played with the Panthers.
Bure was a walking highlight reel who had two 50-goal seasons. Jagr had the mystique along with the relatable experience of being someone at a more advanced age who chose to live in South Florida. Luongo had the longevity, as 11 of his 19 seasons were in South Florida, coupled with the fact that his wife’s parents owned a pizza restaurant not far from the team’s practice facility in Coral Springs.
There are also other stars on this year’s Panthers, such as two-time Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky and two-time NHL All-Star Aleksander Barkov, who also has a Selke Trophy.
What makes Tkachuk different? What is it about him that has allowed him to own the conversation and made him more visible in one season than anyone else who has played there?
George Richards, who covers the Panthers for Florida Hockey Now, has been around the team for nearly 20 seasons. He explained how Bure had stardom because of his 50-goal campaigns and the fact he was dating pro tennis player Anna Kournikova. But he was in South Florida for just two full seasons. Jagr was with the team for three seasons at a stage in his career when he was a household name from his many years with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Luongo remains recognizable but Hyde points out that Luongo’s best years came when he was with the Vancouver Canucks and that the Panthers made the playoffs only once in his time with the club.
“[Tkachuk] has become the poster boy, and in December was South Florida running amok with Matthew Tkachuk? No,” Richards said. “The most casual fan didn’t know who he was and they didn’t know who he was when they traded Huberdeau for him.
“He got off on the wrong foot in South Florida because he played in Calgary. The hockey people had to tell the fans how good he is. Nobody here really watched the Calgary Flames. The thought was, ‘You traded Huberdeau?’ Nobody got past that. But since he came here, like Barkov said, it felt like he has known the guy for 10 years. Tkachuk won them over.”
Hyde, Richards and longtime South Florida radio host Joe Rose all said the love affair with Tkachuk in South Florida started at his introductory press conference. Tkachuk turned heads for his now famed line of, “I hate Edmonton, but I hate Tampa more now.”
Even so, Richards said, many fans had reservations after seeing the Panthers trade Huberdeau, a homegrown talent and 100-point scorer who never hid his affinity for South Florida.
Richards said Tkachuk did things like throw out the first pitch at a Miami Marlins game and leave an impression with the Marlins’ television broadcast crew during his in-game visit, all before training camp even started.
“He was selling it from day one,” Richards said.
But it took time for everyone to get on board. The Panthers went from dominating the NHL in the regular season in 2021-22 to looking like they could miss the playoffs this season. But then, Tkachuk produced in ways that helped the Panthers win while also putting himself in the Hart Trophy discussion as the league’s most valuable player.
He also made his mark at the All-Star Game, which was held in South Florida. Tkachuk was named the game’s MVP after scoring seven points in front of many of the fans who watch him play on a nightly basis.
“It had the Miami Vice feel and here’s Matthew Tkachuk on his golf cart being the typical Florida guy,” Richards said. “He took a lot of blame and a lot of people thought, ‘We would have been better off if we had kept Huberdeau.’ He had to overcome that. When this team was not very good, he took a lot of blame. … The All-Star Game really helped. The Panthers were getting better and with Tkachuk in that Miami Vice jersey, he was the story.”
Getting the Panthers into the Stanley Cup playoffs, finishing with the fourth 40-goal season in team history, the second-most assists (69) and second-most points (109) in team history and just the second 100-point season in team history was only the start. Leading Florida out of a 3-1 series hole to beat the Boston Bruins, who finished with the best regular-season record in NHL history, changed everything.
Tkachuk was one of the team’s most visible figures in that series, scoring three goals and six points, including the winner in overtime in Game 5 to keep the season alive.
“Last year’s team was so much fun. They could be down three goals in the third period and score seven,” Rose said. “They put up stupid numbers and they were fun. But they didn’t play that well in the playoffs. What he did in the regular season is one thing. But he comes into these playoffs. He’s talking it, walking it, talking it again and he’s got game-winning goals, setting guys up, jumping and trying to help. I think it’s those things and his personality.”
For former players such as Lindsay and Ed Jovanovski, also a member of the Panthers’ broadcast team, seeing Tkachuk and the team do this well has made them emotional for many reasons.
It reminds them of what it was like during that 1995-96 season, when the Panthers were in the Stanley Cup Final. They remember what it was like to see the entire metro area care about the team and take interest in the sport.
They also remember the difficult years of the Panthers missing the playoffs and the constant reboots that came with the oft-used theme of “this time will be different” only to have the same disappointing result.
What Tkachuk is doing is coming at an important time for the Panthers. They’ve made the playoffs in four straight seasons, starting with the qualifying round in 2020. This is the longest stretch of consecutive playoff seasons in team history which, in turn, makes it the golden age of Panthers hockey.
“It’s exciting because of what they have and where they are at age-wise, it should be a thing for where you are looking at this and you’re going to put a great product on the ice,” Jovanovski said. “The foundation is there and starting with Matthew and Barky, these guys are here long-term. A lot of their core guys are in the prime age of their career.”
Rose said that’s why the next long-term goal for Tkachuk and the Panthers is to sustain what they have done. He said South Florida still comes with the challenge of being a place that does not have an abundance of rinks. And while there are South Floridians in the NHL, Shayne Gostisbehere and Jakob Chychrun notably, there is work to be done when it comes to creating a long-term connection with the rest of the market.
Right now, the Miami Heat and the Panthers have South Florida’s undivided attention. The Heat are used to that, whereas it has been a while for the Panthers. Rose cited the importance of the Panthers having the same established success that has allowed the Heat to create their long-standing fandom and interest.
“The winning and the fact that a lot more people down here can pick up a basketball, go to a gym and see kids are playing basketball,” Rose said. “[The Panthers] got hurt by that. There wasn’t a lot of hockey being played down here before [original team owner] Wayne Huizenga, and they had that one run and that died out after the success of going to the finals. This is going to be fun to see where this goes. I am curious to see where hockey fits into the big picture of South Florida.”
The fact that Tkachuk is just 25 and is completing the first season of an eight-year contract on a team that is enjoying its longest period of sustained success creates optimism. So could Tkachuk be the biggest hockey star South Florida has ever seen?
“If he wins the Cup, he’s the biggest star that ever comes through here,” Lindsay said. “Nobody has done that. Nobody has ever done what he’s done in the playoffs.”
Week 4 is here as we dive into another weekend of college football madness.
The biggest story going into Saturday’s slate of games is if Arch Manning will get his first college start. After capturing the attention of fans, he’ll have a lot to live up to in the spotlight as Texas faces UL Monroe.
USC will be making an appearance at the Big House for the first time in over 60 years as its visit will kick off conference play for the Trojans. Elsewhere in the Big Ten, No. 24 Illinois visits No. 22 Nebraska where one Illinois receiver lives out a different version of a dream he once had.
Before all of this plays out, Appalachian State gets things started as it hosts South Alabama on Thursday.
Our college football experts give insight on players, sound and storylines going into Week 4.
Jump to a section:
Texas QB depth | Illinois’ Pat Bryant | Must needs to win
New conference enemy | Quotes of the week
Stacked QB rooms are nothing new at Texas
Todd Dodge has a unique vantage point to the hysteria around Arch Manning, who made a national splash in his first extensive playing time at Texas after starter and Heisman Trophy candidate Quinn Ewers sustained an oblique injury.
Dodge, a quarterback guru and legendary Texas high school coach with seven state championships — including three-peats at two different schools — lived in the burnt orange spotlight himself. As the first Texas high school quarterback to throw for more than 3,000 yards in a season in 1980, he was a star recruit for the Longhorns who started as a celebrity backup himself.
“The most popular guy in any college town is the No. 2 quarterback,” said Dodge, now the coach at Lovejoy High School in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. “I’ve been the No. 2 where I couldn’t buy my own dinner and everybody wanted to let me know how much they thought I ought to be playing. And I’ve been the No. 1 who’s played well, who was probably over-fawned-over and then I’ve been the No. 1 when the team lost and I didn’t play well and I’m the biggest bum in three counties.”
He said fans often assume a quarterback room is filled with jealousy or back-biting, but in his career, he has found it to be the opposite, which Steve Sarkisian reiterated Monday when he said nothing changes if Manning starts. The bond between Ewers and his backup is evident, Dodge said. And he is familiar with both players and their families, namely Ewers, because his son Riley, was Ewers’ head coach at Southlake Carroll.
“They’re very, very talented young men that both could be playing almost anywhere in the country, but the No. 2’s family [the Mannings] put tremendous value in development and patience,” he said. “To me, that takes a little bit of the angst off of me as the starter knowing that I don’t have a backup who’s out there just every waning minute trying to convince people that he ought to be the guy.”
Greg Davis, too, experienced the attention in his time in Austin. In 1998, Major Applewhite went 8-2 as the starter, was selected Big 12 Freshman of the Year, then Texas landed the No. 1 prospect in the country, Chris Simms, the well-pedigreed son of New York Giants legend Phil Simms. For the next three years, Simms and Applewhite both had their high points, and both served as co-starters. How do you manage that situation?
“Obviously you don’t live in a vacuum,” according to Davis, offensive coordinator under Mack Brown. “You’re aware of what they say in the grocery store.” Davis has ties to the Mannings himself. He recruited Eli alongside Simms, recruited Peyton at Arkansas and offered Arch’s dad, Cooper, when he was coaching at Tulane.
Davis said the pressure inside the building doesn’t come from attention or fans in the grocery store. It comes from picking the player who had the best chance to win. For Dodge, there’s no question, especially after seeing Ewers beat Oklahoma, then Alabama and Michigan in huge road victories.
“Gosh, all of us Texas fans are fired up about what Arch did the other day,” Dodge said. “But in the big picture, there’s a reason why Quinn Ewers is the starter. When you start having to face Georgia and people like that, well, it doesn’t mean that Arch Manning can’t have a bang-up game against a Georgia or an Alabama. It’s just that Quinn Ewers has already done it.” — Dave Wilson
Illinois’ Bryant dreams big after being molded through tragedy
Tattoos are filling up Pat Bryant’s body, memorializing those whose lives once ran parallel to his but diverged and ended far too soon.
Bryant, the star senior wide receiver for No. 24 Illinois, now has four tattoos honoring his friends from Jacksonville, Florida, who have died in recent years. One of the most painful came only two days after Bryant and the Illini played in the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa, when Bryant’s best friend, Alim Denson, nicknamed “Twin,” died while in prison.
“A lot of those guys, I grew up playing sports with, we all had the same dream,” Bryant said. “Being able to reach my dream, knowing they’re looking down on me, they’re very, very proud. Also, for the kids of the community, I want to show them that there’s more to life than gun violence, drugs. I just want to be a great role model for my community.”
Bryant, who leads Illinois with 235 receiving yards and four touchdowns this season, has contributed to a new community, far from home. He was named a team captain last month, as he prepared for his third season as a starter.
The 6-foot-3 Bryant received 33 scholarship offers in high school, including all the in-state schools, except the one he truly wanted, Florida, where both of his parents attended. Bryant committed to Illinois in June 2020, essentially sight unseen, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But in mid-December, just before the end of a delayed and shortened season, Illinois fired coach Lovie Smith. The first high school signing day was just three days away. Wide receivers coach Andrew Hayes-Stoker called Bryant and encouraged him to sign anyway, which he did. Three days later, Illinois hired Bret Bielema to replace Smith.
When Bryant finally visited Champaign, there was some confusion.
“I flew in, thinking the University of Illinois was in Chicago,” Bryant said. “I get off the plane, we get in an Uber, they’re taking us to the dorm, and I’m just waiting to see the big skyline. And I see corn field after corn field. I was like, ‘There’s no way,’ but I adapted to where I was. Great college town.”
Bryant has built a strong connection to Champaign. Earlier this month, he and two teammates pooled their NIL earnings to donate backpacks and school supplies to local children. Bryant’s desire to give back stems in part from his father, Patrick, the athletic director of the Police Athletic League of Jacksonville, which places officers to help with youth sports programs around the city. Pat Jr. played basketball and flag football in the league.
“He’s been nothing but a class example of everything we believe in here,” Bielema said.
After seven touchdown catches in 2023, Bryant is on pace for a breakout season, which continues Friday night at No. 22 Nebraska. Bielema has received good reviews from NFL scouts on Bryant, who also excels with run blocking. Bryant’s path reminds Bielema of the Atlanta Falcons’ Casey Washington.
At a morning meeting after Illinois’ second win, Bielema recognized Bryant as the team’s top overall performer.
“He lives a routine every day that gives him an advantage,” Bielema said. “We talked about how he’s in the building by 5:15 a.m., he doesn’t have to be checked in by 6:30. It’s just an awesome thing to witness. He knows where he’s at, he knows how to take care of himself. Unfortunately, he’s had some tragedy in his life and it helps motivate him for the future.”
Bryant plays for Denson and the other friends he has lost, but he’s also focused on his current teammates.
“I feel like I have a powerful voice, I can relate to everyone on the team,” he said. “I feel people respect me, not only because of my game but because of the kind of person I am.” — Adam Rittenberg
What teams need to capitalize on to win
Utah: Any sort of analysis about this game for the Utes has to begin with the status of quarterback Cam Rising. There hasn’t been an official update about whether he will play, but it’s hard not to interpret the fact that he spoke to reporters this week about the game as an indicator he will be available — unless it’s an elaborate form of gamesmanship, which cannot be ruled out. After falling behind 14-3 to Utah State last week, the Utes were able to come back and win comfortably, but it’s important the Utes don’t follow that script again. Independent of whether Rising plays, the Utes are at their best when the running game does the heavy lifting, and it does not suit their strengths to go into catch-up mode. This is especially true against an explosive offense like Oklahoma State. The best-case scenario here for the Utes is if Rising plays, they establish Micah Bernard early and neutralize Ollie Gordon II to a reasonable degree. — Kyle Bonagura
Oklahoma State: With back-to-back games against Utah and Kansas State to begin the 2024 Big 12 slate, Oklahoma State is about to enter a season-defining stretch. What better way for the Cowboys to make a statement in the Big 12 title hunt than by figuring out the running game and unleashing reigning Doak Walker Award winner Gordon in Week 4?
Coach Mike Gundy says he’s “not concerned” about Oklahoma State’s start on the ground this seasos. But through Week 3, the Cowboys rank 105th in rushing among FBS offenses and Gordon is averaging 3.5 yards per carry, down from 6.1 in 2023 when Gordon finished seventh in Heisman Trophy voting. Oklahoma State leaned on its passing game to storm past Tulsa last Saturday when Gordon carried 17 times for just 41 yards. Relying so heavily on quarterback Alan Bowman won’t be as easy this weekend against Utah’s 26th-ranked pass defense. The Cowboys’ broader College Football Playoff aspirations probably hinge on finding a way to get Gordon and the run game going. Saturday against Utah is a good place for them to start. — Eli Lederman
Get to know your new conference enemy
With so much anticipation heading into this season about the new West Coast additions of the Big Ten playing matchups like this one, it’s hard to believe how much USC and Michigan have already switched roles.
The defending national champion has not looked the part after losing its head coach in Jim Harbaugh, but also plenty of talent on the field such as quarterback J.J. McCarthy and running back Blake Corum, among several others. After losing 31-12 to Texas at home and struggling on offense last week against Arkansas State, this isn’t exactly looking like the encore Wolverines fans envisioned.
Now, USC comes to town for its first marquee Big Ten game, looking far removed from the bitter end it had to the Caleb Williams era last year. After firing defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, Lincoln Riley revamped the defensive staff with former UCLA coordinator D’Anton Lynn, and after a statement win over LSU in the opener and a shutout of Utah State at home, the Trojans are coming off a bye week and look to be on the way up.
Despite any momentum USC might have, the concept of playing — and winning — a road game in the Big House looms large on any opponent, especially one that hasn’t been there since 1958. Though USC players keep harping on their improved physicality in the trenches being the deciding factor in this game, Riley has remained adamant over the past week that despite its struggles, Michigan is a really good team with NFL-caliber players. You can see how much he is trying to will his team to not view itself as the favorites, even if the odds say so.
“Everybody wants to write the story after a couple of games in the season for everyone,” Riley said this week. “And it’s a long season, man. That’s a good football team that we have a lot of respect for. To have anything less would be a mistake on our part.” — Paolo Uggetti
Quotes of the week
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“Yeah, there’s an old quarterback from Muleshoe, Texas that’s going to come out of retirement, can see if his legs still got it,” Lincoln Riley, smiling, when asked if USC has someone on the scout team that can replicate what Michigan QB Alex Orji does on the ground. “No, we got a couple of guys that we’re trying to use a little bit. But he’s a really good athlete. I told people last night I was familiar with him. We recruited him a little bit coming out of high school, remember, I have a lot of respect for him as a player and an athlete.”
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“I thought that they were trying to make it hard on us, to be honest with you,” Mike Gundy said Monday with Oklahoma State staring down back-to-back meetings against conference favorites Utah and Kansas State to open Big 12 play. “Commissioner [Brett Yormark] is my buddy, but he doesn’t do the scheduling. So, I’ve sent the wrong guy pecans for Christmas. I should’ve sent the scheduling guy pecans for Christmas.”
NEW YORK — Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies clinched their third consecutive playoff appearance Friday night with a 12-2 victory over the New York Mets.
Assured at least a National League wild card, the Phillies can secure their first NL East title since 2011 with one more win this weekend against the second-place Mets at Citi Field.
With the division crown so close, Philadelphia planned a mellow celebration following Friday night’s game — hoping to let loose soon with a boozy clubhouse bash after locking up first place.
Seeking their third World Series championship, the Phillies overtook Atlanta for the division lead on May 3 and haven’t trailed since. Their victory coupled with the Braves’ 4-3 loss in Miami eliminated Atlanta from contention for the NL East crown — ending its six-year reign atop the division.
Alec Bohm had four hits and four RBIs, including a three-run homer, in Friday night’s blowout. Nick Castellanos had three hits and two RBIs, J.T. Realmuto added a two-run homer and the Phillies extended their NL East lead to seven games over the second-place Mets (85-69) with eight to play.
Philadelphia stole five bases — four in a six-run fourth inning capped by Bohm’s homer off reliever Adam Ottavino. Johan Rojas had a two-run double off starter David Peterson (9-3), who was pulled after just 64 pitches and 3 2/3 innings — his shortest start of the season.
Cristopher Sanchez (11-9) overcame a shaky start and five walks in five innings for the win. Philadelphia outhit the Mets 17-4.
Philadelphia (92-62) has the best record in the major leagues and is on track for a first-round bye in the playoffs. It’s the third time the Phillies have reached the postseason three years in a row (1976-78 and 2007-11).
Philadelphia won five straight NL East titles from 2007-11, then went 10 years without making the playoffs. A wild-card entry each of the past two postseasons, the Phillies put together consecutive October runs that ended in heartbreak.
They reached the 2022 World Series, losing to Houston in six games, and dropped a seven-game NL Championship Series to Arizona last year after leading the underdog Diamondbacks 2-0 and 3-2.
So this time, the Phillies are looking to go all the way and finally finish the job.
Philadelphia’s only World Series championships came in 1980 and 2008.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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