Right call, he is young and needs to mature. He has bought into the hype of what he has done the last year plus. He can still play that way but just cut out the ####y stuff like that and the macho man elbow smash. Love him as a player and he is only 19
The 2nd line just isn’t the same without him, but glad we’ve been able to grind a couple wins without him. Kid needs to get back in the lineup and jusy play hockey.
He's a chip off the ol' block what do people expect?
The part that I'm watching is the league being surprisingly cool with him. He's got low suspensions thus far, if they wanted to send a message they could have easily done so by now. He's also the highest penalty drawer in the league. Not sure if it's his dad's pull or Parros might actually enjoy it.
Does he need to mature a bit? Of course. But it's his style, and he isn't crossing the boards as an extra man either. He's playing close to the line. As Tim and Sid said tonight, it's also not really something you can talk to him about without deflating him... he's testing the waters.
Kudos to him, If we could add a power forward it will get real interesting.
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Pretty spot on if you ask me. The Kadri comparison is pretty good too.
I’ve never seen this guy before, and although I hate the Leafs and most of their fan base, this guy is pretty smart and very fair. I kinda wish we had a fan doing this as well.
Surprised it was so light. I thought that because it was so similar to such a recent suspension (poking a player with a stick while on/off the ice) that they would dish out a harsher penalty. Basically they're saying, "it's an almost identical incident, so we'll give out an identical penalty. We don't care about repeat offenses."
I'm not mad as a Flames fan, but as someone who wants the league to keep a lid on repeat offenders, no matter what team they play for, this decision sort of bugs me. Not a lot, but a little.
I don't know. Sure I'd be on board with a step up if the Department of Player Safety was consistent on that with actual dangerous plays that were intended or actually caused injury. As it is, what we see is a department headed by a fighter who takes provocative behaviour from someone like Tkachuk more seriously than really dirty plays like a spear to the nuts from Crosby, Marchand taking guys out regularly with blindside hits and slashes that break fingers. Still wildly inconsistent compared to any other credible professional sport.
Someone brought up Sean Avery. Don't think Tkachuk is at that level and sure of course no one like Sean Avery. But there's something screwy in the culture of the league when someone like Matt Cooke can find a job with multiple teams for years but Avery is beyond the pale.
Anyway no harm done. I'd like to see Tkachuk reign it in and be a bit smarter. Don't think this will hurt his actual play on the ice in the least. In fact, if he's more focussed on his on-ice play, it may help his overall game.
Got one guy suspended for 10
Another guy suspended for 4
Winning?
Really not a reasonable way to look at it. I don't care about the Detroit Red Wings or the Avalanche but Tkachuk being out of the line-up makes the Flames a weaker team.
I’ve never seen this guy before, and although I hate the Leafs and most of their fan base, this guy is pretty smart and very fair. I kinda wish we had a fan doing this as well.
I think you'll like this then.
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What was wrong with any of that. Hockey fans mock robotic answers but get bent out of shape whenever a player "steps out of line" and speaks to anything candidly.
Kadri wasn't dissing Tkachuk or attacking him, he was literally offering advice as someone who started his career with the same control issues.
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Tkachuk is playing the long con: Step 1: spend first few seasons building reputation as grease-ball player. Step 2: Ride that grease-ball reputation into penalty drawing nirvana for remainder of career.