He's never seemed to me like the kind of guy who seems buddy buddy with his teammates like Rasmus, Mange, johnny, and Mommy are (there are others too), and I've always had the impression that he may be resented by his teammates for his attitude at times.
Sometimes it's hard to be yourself when Mommy is watching.
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He likes to drive the puck to the net. Uses No look passes out front but no one on his line is ever standing there.
The no look Chip pass between his legs when trying to get it out of our zone needs to stop though. Coughs it up consistently Instead of just shooting it out.
JG’s quote was framed a little different IMO. It tended to lean towards that they didn’t see it on the ice, saw the replay when getting off the ice, and didn’t think it warranted quite the reaction (and sounds like it wasn’t the first time Tkachuk had gotten this upset), “but that was MT being MT”.
That and whatever previous similar beef JG mentioned, sounded like it was more a MT personal/individual issue that he reacted to, not a “I’m upset the team lost and now I’m the only one getting emotional”.
He has looked off significantly. Seems to be happy making or trying to make one play a shift and if it doesn’t work out, that’s it, he’s got no confidence. And yeah if that team meeting clipped his wings a bit, he’s likely not in a good space yet.
That’s what I took from it. I suspect the conversation went:
Tkachuk: you guys didn’t have my back against Muzzin
Team: we didn’t even see it happen - everyone on the bench was heading down the tunnel. Anyway, we saw the tape - there really wasn’t much to it. Muzzin was just trying to get your goat. Frankly, it’s exhausting and getting old how we have to get into big scrums because you fly off the handle at a minor stuff, or knee a goalie in the head, etc.
I doubt the team told him “we don’t have your back” and I doubt they said “don’t play with emotion”. But let’s be honest - Tkachuk gets himself into a lot of incidents all on his own and it has to get old for some guys. He is putting his linemates in a situation where they have to grab some 230 pound defenceman and hope for the best. I recall Claude Lemieux’s teammates getting tired of his antics and just leaving him on the ice for a line change when he faked an injury trying to draw a penalty for the umpteenth time.
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Did you guys even listen to the same interview? It was a joke. They didn't see what happened with Muzzin cause they were skating off the ice, and so they naturally thought he was pissed off about the loss. Johnny was like, "I get being pissed about the loss, but it's only the 4th game of the season lol."
He said they didn't see what happened until they were watching the highlights later. He also said Matty was too pissed after the game and wasn't talking much so he didn't tell them what had happened.
AND he also said that they play TO again, so it'll be dealt with for sure.
Edit: Sometimes I feel like people just listen to the words and ignore the context.
Like Bill Burr's bit about context... when a woman is letting you do something, but she doesn't want you to think she does it all the time, so she's like, "omg what are you doing... noooo... stooooop... omgggg...." but then in court they read the transcript and it's like...
"Omg."
"What are you doing?"
"No."
"Stop."
"Omg."
And then you're like, "SHE DIDN'T SAY IT LIKE THAT!"
(It's Bill Burr, so obviously there's swearing.)
Last edited by FanIn80; 02-18-2021 at 08:34 AM.
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He hasn’t been performing as well as I think he can. However, I believe a few freak seasons set the bar higher than realistic for Tkachuk. To me, I’ve always seen him as a Dustin Brown comparable (With more offensive flair). You certainly want the guy on your team, he can be leader, he gets into the dirty areas, and he can score and should be on power play as he is. But he isn’t going to be the best forward on the team, he’s much more like a high end role player. I’m hardly concerned about his qualifying offer number because I don’t see anyway he and his agent think that’s a smart play. He isn’t worth $9mil per, even in a pre-flat cap situation.
I hope he can get back to where he was, bringing what he does best. And I hope they can work out a multi year deal at an appropriate cap hit. He’s a guy you want around in my opinion, but he isn’t going to put up 70+ points every season.
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I think it's difficult with these circumstances for sure. Hockey should be fun- not just the games but having fun with your buddies/team mates.
Perhaps social media is too prevalent rn too. Everyone is using it more and there are a lot of stupid, ignorant opinions flying around and people wanting to blow off steam or get attention.
There are a lot of potential obstacles or things out of the control of players and the team. They may want to all go xcountry skiing (low risk, outdoor activity with distancing) or something just to get away from routine and have fun.
Anyway I think Tkachuk and the team will be good. They are extremely talented committed athletes who look to be great people too.
Last edited by Jeff Lebowski; 02-18-2021 at 08:37 AM.
He's playing like the beer leaguer that thinks he's too good for the division he is in. Tries all these fancy plays that rarely work, coasts around and doesn't backcheck.
When he took the knee after the hit, slowly got to his feet and watched the goal happen (4th goal I believe last night) I saw someone that should've been benched, and I was surprised he was out again in the 3rd.
Hopefully two games vs Edmonton wake him up, but if he half-asses it these games something really is wrong.
^^He still has a game to play and a job to do he is getting paid well.
Coach should side with MT and tell the rest of the team to show some emotion. Sometimes his antics may be too much but that part can be taught and toned down. Coach should not let a situation like this fracture the team. Got to get them working together before the season is lost.
You have a lot of lengthy, intelligent, nuanced posts about a variety of things on this site and then you come up with “headcase” for what is going on with Tkachuk? Weird. There is clearly something wrong, be it concussions, some serious complacency, his shenanigans not playing like they did before and a fatigue regarding those issues from the rest of the team/organization or some combination of those things...I don’t know what it is, but headcase? Probably not.
I think Tkachuk is a headcase. He let his limited success inflate his self image and he honestly believes he is the heart and soul of the team and everyone should follow him. The problem is he's an immature jerk who has zero impulse control and is very easily taken off his game. He talks a really big game, but never delivers when the chips are down. He expects everyone to back him up when he is writing checks no one else is willing to fund. I honestly think he expects everyone to fight the battles he builds up, even though they provide little value to the overall goals of the team. What's worse, Tkachuk think he's a master head game player and thinks he's getting under the opposition's skin with his antics, but in reality he has become a distraction to his team and has managed to get under his own skin and in his own head. Matthew Tkachuk's worst enemy is Matthew Tkachuk, which makes him a headcase.
^^He still has a game to play and a job to do he is getting paid well.
Coach should side with MT and tell the rest of the team to show some emotion. Sometimes his antics may be too much but that part can be taught and toned down. Coach should not let a situation like this fracture the team. Got to get them working together before the season is lost.
You're assuming we have a coach who has control of the room. Not sure if you've been paying attention to this season so far, but Geoff Ward is struggling to control his emotions let alone the hockey team he is supposed to be coaching.
Frankly, I want more of that nasty pos MT. And any player who doesn't like it, or wants to tone it down can GTFO!! That's the player who is ok with slow starts. That's the player who gives up on a play or doesn't take the hit to get the puck out of the zone.
The room has gotten too buddy-buddy and the players are acting like they're taking a windy walk instead of going to war.
Does this team look like it has something to prove? I sure as hell don't see it and it seems like MT doesn't either.
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This is just a theory, I have no inside information, but I think he may be rubbing some team-mates the wrong way.
As Strider said to Frodo: You draw far too much attention to yourself, Mr. Underhill.
I've been feeling more and more like there's a deep locker room rift that we're not entirely privy too. Guys have noticeably stopped supporting eachother in scrums on the ice as much, lack of consistent effort in other areas, way less smiles and yucking on the bench, and finally the strange rumblings we keep getting of players not wanting to play in certain positions (or maybe is it with certain other players...)
Something isn't right and it's not just with individual player compete level. Smells bad.
