Brady Tkachuk says the comment he directed at the Ottawa Senators bench after scoring at the Canadian Tire Centre was about the goals he had scored in that building, not a jab at his former teammates.
Tkachuk did not apologize or concede the remark was a taunt. Speaking on the Wingmen podcast he hosts with his brother Matthew, his Panthers teammate, he said, as quoted by the Ottawa Citizen:
“There’s been a lot of goals scored in that building. My thought was that it was just another one and that I just did it on the other side. I’ve had a lot of memories of scoring in that building before. So, I don’t know where that kind of got misconstrued, that it was about something else other than the fact I’ve scored in this building before. It was just the same feeling on the other side. There was no siren, no horn, and just a lot of silence. That was the most different part, just the silence.”
Senators majority owner Michael Andlauer had a different version, telling the Coming In Hot podcast that Tkachuk skated past the bench and said, “Some things never change, eh, boys?”
The goal came on Oct. 21, Tkachuk’s first game back in Ottawa since the June trade that sent him to Florida for three first-round picks and a second-rounder. He scored on a first-period power play, and Ottawa answered with five straight goals in a 5-1 win.
Matthew Tkachuk questions Ottawa’s announced sellout
Matthew used the same episode to question the announced attendance of 17,010.
“It was a loud 15,000. They say it was sold out. I was there. I had my eyes. That was not sold out,” he said.
He also pressed his brother on the reception. “A lot of people called and texted me,” Matthew said. “They want to know what it’s like scoring in front of 15,000 people and then getting booed. What is that like?” Later he put his own spin on the phrase: “Some things never change, you just scored for another team.”
The Senators and Panthers meet again at the Canadian Tire Centre on March 18.
Edited by Sonali Verma
