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Whether it was breaking basement windows or the garage door playing with his father Keith and older brother Matthew, or heading to the rink to attend Blues practices, the 18-year-old has plenty of childhood memories while growing up in St. Louis.
”We’d go on the ice before they practiced and there were some guys who would come out like David Perron, David Backes, T.J. Oshie,” Tkachuk said at the NHL pre-draft combine on Saturday, referring to his father’s former teammates. ”And those guys would spend their time, while Matthew and I were skating around, passing and shooting and joking around with us. Those were some of my big memories.”
Keith Tkachuk is considered one of the game’s top Americans during a 19-year NHL career that ended in 2010. Matthew, 20 Ziggy Ansah Jersey , is already in the NHL after completing his second season with the Calgary Flames.
At the rate Brady Tkachuk is developing, there’s a very good chance he’ll enjoy more memorable moments in the near future.
Listed at 6-foot-3 and 196 pounds, and still growing, Tkachuk is ranked second among North American draft-eligible prospects by the NHL’s Central Scouting Bureau. That puts the forward in the mix to be among the top five players – and first American – selected once the draft opens at Dallas on June 22.
Much like his father, Tkachuk has a combination of hard-hitting and play-making components to his game. He had eight goals and 31 points, plus 61 penalty minutes in 40 games in his freshman season at Boston University.
He also has leadership potential after serving as captain of the bronze-medal-winning U.S. team at the World Junior hockey championships last winter.
”He’s a complete package that can be impactful in every situation with and without the puck,” central scouting bureau director Dan Marr said. ”He knows what needs to be done, and he’s not afraid to get dirty to go out and do it. But he also has the skills and finesse to play that type of a game to win you the game.”
The world junior tournament became Tkachuk’s coming out party in finishing tied for fifth among tournament players with nine points. It carried over into the second half of his college season, where he had four goals and 17 points in his final 21 games in helping the Terriers clinch just their eighth Hockey East tournament championship.
Tkachuk credited his improved production to learning how to play against older opponents.
”I was used to winning battles, every battle in the USHL because they’re all my own age. But I found playing against 23-year-olds was different Alfred Blue Jersey ,” he said. ”Instead of just using my body, I had to use my mind, too, a little bit more and try to outsmart them.”
What stands out is Tkachuk’s outgoing personality.
He wasn’t afraid to joke during pre-draft interviews with prospective teams in saying how better looking he was than other players. And then there’s the picture accompanying Tkachuk’s combine profile, which features him with an upturned-lip smirk.
”I like the smirk,” Tkachuk said. ”I’ve done it before and a lot of guys think it’s funny. It’s just my personality.”
It helps not feeling intimidated being around NHLers, given his upbringing. He developed in a youth hockey system in St. Louis that included the sons of former NHL stars such as Chris Pronger, Al MacInnis and Jeff Brown.
Tkachuk doesn’t feel burdened by having to live up to his last name. Instead, it’s motivation in fueling him to match what his father did in ranking fifth among American-born scorers with 1,065 points Larry Ogunjobi Jersey , and to one day keep pace with his brother, who already has 37 goals and 97 points in 144 games with Calgary.
The competition could begin on draft day, when Tkachuk has a chance to be selected higher than his father (taken 19th in 1990) and brother (No. 6, in 2016).
That would be fine with everyone, Keith Tkachuk said.
”I would love that,” the proud father said, before breaking into a laugh. ”And Matthew would like it because he doesn’t want to sit in the stands too long watching.”
Brady Tkachuk joked, the only concern is if he gets drafted by Edmonton, and the potential of one day pitting the two Tkachuks against each other in the ever-intense Alberta rivalry between the Oilers and Flames.
”It’s definitely been discussed in my family,” Tkachuk said. ”It would be pretty cool Dak Prescott Jersey , but I think it would be pretty stressful for the mom.”
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More NHL hockey: Oscar Robertson commends the off-court activism of today’s NBA players, although the Hall of Famer wonders why more white athletes aren’t speaking out, too.
Robertson received the Lifetime Achievement Award from presenters Charles Barkley and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at the NBA Awards on Monday night.
Robertson is the career leader in triple-doubles and was the first player to average one for a season. His antitrust case against the NBA also ushered in free agency for players, which Robertson said was his most important assist.
The 79-year-old former guard who starred at Crispus Attucks High in Indianapolis and in college at Cincinnati before going to the NBA said it’s time for players to speak out about politics and education, among other issues.
”But the only thing that really bothers me is where are the white athletes when this is happening?” he said backstage. ”This is not a black athlete problem. You see injustice in the world. It’s all around you.”
Robertson’s high school and college career was plagued by racism.
”But it seems that what we have today is a system where you don’t want players to say anything at all,” he said. ”Because years ago they didn’t say anything because they couldn’t say anything. But now I hope they all, the whites and the blacks get together. Even with the football.”
Robertson was referring to NFL players who have taken a knee or sat in silence during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial inequality.
”What do you think is going to happen when the union gets involved with the owners?” he said ”You think it’s going to be settled really easily? No, it’s not. It’s going to be nothing but a total mess.”
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