ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ

As frustrating as it was to see hometown boy break the Blues’ hearts on Thursday night, hockey fans in St. Louis know their city couldn’t ask for a more fitting representative. Their emissary on ice is two parts savant and one part bulldog with a serving of toasted ravioli tossed into the mix.

Tkachuk, the Florida Panthers star winger, isn’t technically a native of St. Louis because he was born in Arizona but grew up in the Gateway City. However, his heart remains tethered to this city. He proved that last summer, when he celebrated his greatest professional achievement by bringing the Stanley Cup back home and sharing it with those he holds dear.

Tkachuk described that experience last summer as “something that I’ll never forget.� Seven months later, he said people still come up to him in St. Louis and let him how special that visit was to them.

He took the Lord Stanley’s Cup to the St. Louis Children’s Hospital, the Brentwood Police and Fire Departments, and a slate of restaurants that included O’B Clarks, ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵman’s Park and Grassi’s among other locations important to Tkachuk.

“I really wasn’t given that much notice because I was one of the first few guys to have it,� Tkachuk, a Chaminade grad said. “I think I had like a week to plan it all. I was super lucky to get a day and a half with it, so I just tried to, really, cram as much as I could possibly into it. I did everything I wanted to and more. All the stops that I made were super meaningful to me.�

As for his latest visit to St. Louis, well, Tkachuk capped that by scoring two goals, including the game-winner with 11.8 seconds remaining. He also dished out an assist in a 3-2 win over the Blues at Enterprise Center. That brought his season total to 21 goals and 54 points in 51 games.

His tip-in goal on a power play in the first period gave the Panthers their first lead of the night, 2-1. Despite putting the Blues behind, his goal elicited a smattering of applause from the St. Louis crowd.

His final goal came as the Blues seemed poised to at least salvage a desperately needed point by going to overtime against the defending champions.

Instead, Tkachuk got his stick on a second-chance shot by Sam Reinhart. Tkachuk plucked the puck out of mid-air, and he both redirected and elevated the shot into the net for the game winner.

Tkachuk, the son of Blues Hall of Famer and , grew up in St. Louis. His father spent nine seasons with the Blues over the course of two stints. During that time, Keith recorded three consecutive 30-goal seasons and became one of just four Blues with more than 400 points and 600 penalty minutes.

The sixth pick in the 2016 NHL draft, Matthew Tkachuk followed in his old man’s footsteps to the NHL. Now, at age 27, he has established himself as one of the best and most hard-nosed forwards in the league.

A two-time All-Star, he made himself a finalist for the Hart Trophy in 2022-23 with his second consecutive 100-point season. Last season, Tkachuk led the Panthers in assists (16) in the postseason and tied Aleksander Barkov for the team’s postseason lead in points (22) on the way to the Stanley Cup championship.

Tkachuk entered play this week as one of three players in the NHL with at least 41 points and more than 50 penalty minutes. He joined his younger brother, , and the Boston Bruins’ Brad Marchand in that respect.

Later this month, Tkachuk will join forces with his brother and they’ll represent St. Louis and the rest of the United States on an international stage as part of the .

Tkachuk will serve as an alternate captain for Team USA, his first time playing for the U.S. since before he debuted in the NHL.

“We are so excited for it,� Tkachuk said. “The family is — I don’t know. I can’t even put into words how excited everybody is. Everybody is going to be there in both Montreal and Boston. It’s going to be special. I’m actually playing Brady on Saturday.�

The matchup between the Panthers and Ottawa Senators on Saturday in Florida will be the final game for each of the brothers before the tournament.

The brothers didn’t get to play together as teammates in an organized setting growing up because of their two-year age difference. The closest they’ve come to that was the NHL All-Star Game in 2023.

“This is our first time in a competitive environment to be on the same side,� Tkachuk said. “So I know how many people have reached out from St. Louis, in Boston where our family is, up in Canada where my mom’s family is. Everybody is just so excited to see us on the same ice together, on the same team.

“The fact that it’s representing our country, wearing the USA colors, that in itself is as big of an honor as you can get. For us to be doing it together, you can’t make it up. We’re really jacked up for it.�

If nothing else, local fans can tune in to the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, watch Tkachuk and his brother carry the torch as St. Louis hockey royalty and rejoice in the fact that you won’t have to see either of them deliver figurative or literal gut punches to the Blues.