Quote:
Originally Posted by FanIn80
I disagree with their notion that Tkachuk never lived up to being a franchise player here. We never gave him the keys. We never allowed him to become a franchise player. We told him to change his game and tone down his personality, while refusing to let him take over.
Florida welcomed him and all that he is. They opened the door and Barkov himself gave him a copy of his own keys to the kingdom. They allowed the team to be remolded around Tkachuk's style of play. The back to back Finals Panthers are not Huberdeau's perimeter Panthers... they're Tkachuk's in-your-face, drive the net and fight you at center ice Panthers.
Barky and co. welcomed him in and welcomed the change he brought. In turn, he adapted his game and matured with the newly acquired responsibility that being a real leader brings.
You listen to Barkov talk about Tkachuk, and he says things like "Chucky's a real leader on this team. In the room and on the ice, his impact has been huge for us."
Listen to Tkachuk talk about why they've been successful, and he says "100% buy-in from everyone on this team. The way we play is very hard to play, but we like to think it's even harder to play against."
We didn't get that Tkachuk here because we didn't want that Tkachuk here, and that's why Tkachuk didn't want to be here. Florida was willing to become a villain-esque team that no one wants to play against, and they brought in a Darth Vader to make it happen.
All that aside, though, the real answer to the question in the article is 100% Florida, because "f### Edmonton" supercedes literally anything else. I don't care what the parameters are, the answer is always anyone but Edmonton.
|
With all due respect, this is all nonsense revisionist history with a ton of bias.
Tkachuk wasn’t handed the keys because he didn’t deserve them. He was inconsistent, immature and frequently played like an idiot.
This whole narrative blaming the older vets for trying to neuter him but them giving Florida and Barkov credit for embracing him is total nonsense. You chastise Flames players for being unhappy with his antics which frequently were to his own detriment and his teams detriment and somehow credit Florida for helping him mature.
Here’s a crazy idea, he was young and had some maturity issues which meant he was easily rattled and it frequently put him off his game. With the help of his Calgary teammates, he then learned how to reign it in by the time he went to Florida and thanks to his experience and lessons learned from fantastic leaders like Gio, was able to play a more mature well rounded game.
You’re right, Florida welcomed as he is. Because he’d already changed and matured. He’d learned his lesson that his tantrums and ill timed fights were costing his teams wins.
Barkov gave him a copy of the keys to his kingdom? What does that even mean? Tkachuk acted and played more like a leader and it shows. You trying to create a narrative by connecting dots while filling in all of the info is pure guesswork.
Tkachuk says Florida has 100% buy in but flames didn’t get that because they didn’t want it? What? The flames didn’t want buy in? You mean the same Tkachuk who you admit didn’t buy in? So he was both the problem and the solution?
I’ve been reading CP a long time and many, many people thought Tkachuk was too hot/cold and needed to mature. Many people speculated he would never reach his potential if he didn’t mature. Few wanted to sign him to a huge contract before his last season in Calgary because of the warts in his game. But no one has a crystal ball. All of this looking back and trying to rewrite history is the worst kind of hindsight.