Tkachuks to meet in Atlantic Division for first time: 'Stressful for the parents'
Chantal Tkachuk's rule still stands.
And it remains pretty straight forward -- there will be no fighting.
"Absolutely still in place," Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk, the family's eldest son, said of the not-so-subtle directive.
"Set in stone," added Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk, 21 months his sibling's junior. "That rule will not be broken."
The Tkachuk brothers have played against each other plenty since Brady made his NHL debut in 2018.
There was that memorable first meeting where nearly 40 family members sported specially designed jerseys honouring the occasion.
The pair then met nine times during the NHL's pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season when Matthew's Calgary Flames and Brady's Senators suited up in the one-and-done North Division necessitated by COVID-19 travel restrictions.
But with older brother now in younger brother's Atlantic Division stomping ground with the Panthers following a summer trade from Calgary and subsequent contract extension -- along with an Ottawa group looking to make a playoff push following a painful, protracted rebuild -- the temperature of the sibling rivalry is set to be turned up.
"Really fun when we played against each other twice a year," said Matthew Tkachuk, 24, who will face Brady and the Senators as true division foes for the first time Saturday when Florida hosts Ottawa.
"But now the games, they matter a lot. Before they didn't matter as much."
Brady Tkachuk agreed there will be an adjustment to the new dynamic.
"Definitely gonna be weird," said the 23-year-old, who like his brother is signed long-term. "But we're both excited for it. It's not going to be all the spectacle that it used to be. There's going to be some big divisional games, and we're potentially going to play in the playoffs.
"Going to be stressful for the parents, especially my mom, but it's exciting."
St. Louis forward Robert Thomas lived with Keith, who played 18 NHL seasons, and Chantal Tkachuk during his first two professional campaigns.
Matthew and Brady were out of the house and in the league by then, but around during the spring of 2019 as the Blues marched to their first Stanley Cup.
"They love competing against each other," Thomas said. "I don't know what's gonna happen there. I don't know how Chantal is gonna manoeuvre that one.
"But it'll be pretty fun to watch."
Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone, who took Brady under his wing in Ottawa before getting traded, will also tune in when the Tkachuks meet.
"It'll be fun to have those two playing," he said. "Two good teams in that division going forward."
There's no doubt the Tkachuks -- they also have a younger sister, Taryn -- support each other when not going nose-to-nose on the ice.
Brady made waves on social media in last spring's playoffs when he was in Calgary cheering on the Flames, usually with a couple beers in tow.
"Tons of the guys on the team had family there doing the same thing," Matthew Tkachuk said. "The difference is Brady just plays in the NHL, so he's a little more recognizable.
"I loved it."
New Jersey Devils centre Jack Hughes has played against his brother Quinn, a star defenceman with the Vancouver Canucks, in the NHL.
"First few shifts, you're kind of laughing about it," Jack Hughes said of sibling games. "(The Tkachuks) are different than me and Quinn. They're pretty in-your-face. I wouldn't be surprised if something weird happened between those two."
"I was asking someone if we're gonna see a Tkachuk fight this year," Quinn Hughes said.
"I hope not, but you never know."
Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger, who played with Brady Tkachuk at Boston University and the 2018 world junior hockey championship for the U.S., also isn't convinced that "no fighting" decree can withstand the individual desire to eventually grasp hockey's ultimate prize.
"That's the best part about those two," Oettinger said. "They're brothers and best friends and close, but once the puck drops … I'm sure those guys will fight at some point in their careers.
"They're two of the best players in the league. It's gonna be exciting."
The Tkachuks, however, are adamant about potential fisticuffs.
"The games will matter a lot more," Matthew said. "We'll ramp it up a bit. But at the end of the day, he's still my brother."
"We're gonna be having competitive games," Brady said. "Just who we are as people, players. We both want to win … expect more battles.
"But never cross the line."
Otherwise, they'll have mom to answer to.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 28, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
Canada Post cracks down on Nunavut loophole to get free Amazon Prime shipping
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
Adopted daughter in the Netherlands reunited with sister in Montreal and mother in Colombia, 40 years later
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
Michael Cohen: A challenging star witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial
He once said he would take a bullet for Donald Trump. Now Michael Cohen is prosecutors' biggest piece of legal ammunition in the former president's hush money trial.
Millions of Canadians have been exposed to potentially toxic chemicals, and they're not going anywhere
For decades, North Bay, Ontario's water supply has harboured chemicals associated with liver and developmental issues, cancer and complications with pregnancy. It's far from the only city with that problem.
German men with the strongest fingers compete in Bavaria's 'Fingerhakeln' wrestling championship
Despite the threat of dislocated fingers and strained muscles, over 150 Bavarian men came together Sunday to compete in Germany’s unique national championship of “Fingerhakeln,” or finger wrestling.
Flash floods in northern Afghanistan sweep away livelihoods, leaving hundreds dead and missing
The UN food agency estimated that unusually heavy seasonal rains in Afghanistan have left more than 300 people dead and thousands of houses destroyed, most of them in the northern province of Baghlan, which bore the brunt of the deluges Friday.
As Israel pushes deeper into Rafah, Hamas regroups elsewhere in ungoverned Gaza
Israeli forces were battling Palestinian militants across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, including in parts of the devastated north that the military said it had cleared months ago, where Hamas has exploited a security vacuum to regroup.
4th Indian national arrested, charged with murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar
Homicide investigators in B.C. say murder charges have been laid against a fourth Indian national in connection to the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a Surrey gurdwara last year.