With a last name such as his Kyler Fackrell Jersey , Brady Tkachuk’s life has unsurprisingly revolved around hockey.
Whether it was breaking basement windows or the garage door playing with his father Keith and older brother Matthew, or heading to the rink to attend Blues practices, the 18-year-old has plenty of childhood memories while growing up in St. Louis.
”We’d go on the ice before they practiced and there were some guys who would come out like David Perron, David Backes, T.J. Oshie,” Tkachuk said at the NHL pre-draft combine on Saturday, referring to his father’s former teammates. ”And those guys would spend their time, while Matthew and I were skating around, passing and shooting and joking around with us. Those were some of my big memories.”
Keith Tkachuk is considered one of the game’s top Americans during a 19-year NHL career that ended in 2010. Matthew, 20, is already in the NHL after completing his second season with the Calgary Flames.
At the rate Brady Tkachuk is developing, there’s a very good chance he’ll enjoy more memorable moments in the near future.
Listed at 6-foot-3 and 196 pounds, and still growing, Tkachuk is ranked second among North American draft-eligible prospects by the NHL’s Central Scouting Bureau. That puts the forward in the mix to be among the top five players – and first American – selected once the draft opens at Dallas on June 22.
Much like his father, Tkachuk has a combination of hard-hitting and play-making components to his game. He had eight goals and 31 points Ryan Ramczyk Jersey , plus 61 penalty minutes in 40 games in his freshman season at Boston University.
He also has leadership potential after serving as captain of the bronze-medal-winning U.S. team at the World Junior hockey championships last winter.
”He’s a complete package that can be impactful in every situation with and without the puck,” central scouting bureau director Dan Marr said. ”He knows what needs to be done, and he’s not afraid to get dirty to go out and do it. But he also has the skills and finesse to play that type of a game to win you the game.”
The world junior tournament became Tkachuk’s coming out party in finishing tied for fifth among tournament players with nine points. It carried over into the second half of his college season, where he had four goals and 17 points in his final 21 games in helping the Terriers clinch just their eighth Hockey East tournament championship.
Tkachuk credited his improved production to learning how to play against older opponents.
”I was used to winning battles, every battle in the USHL because they’re all my own age. But I found playing against 23-year-olds was different,” he said. ”Instead of just using my body, I had to use my mind, too, a little bit more and try to outsmart them.”
What stands out is Tkachuk’s outgoing personality.
He wasn’t afraid to joke during pre-draft interviews with prospective teams in saying how better looking he was than other players. And then there’s the picture accompanying Tkachuk’s combine profile, which features him with an upturned-lip smirk.
”I like the smirk,” Tkachuk said. ”I’ve done it before and a lot of guys think it’s funny. It’s just my personality.”
It helps not feeling intimidated being around NHLers, given his upbringing. He developed in a youth hockey system in St. Louis that included the sons of former NHL stars such as Chris Pronger, Al MacInnis and Jeff Brown.
Tkachuk doesn’t feel burdened by having to live up to his last name. Instead, it’s motivation in fueling him to match what his father did in ranking fifth among American-born scorers with 1,065 points Micah Hyde Jersey , and to one day keep pace with his brother, who already has 37 goals and 97 points in 144 games with Calgary.
The competition could begin on draft day, when Tkachuk has a chance to be selected higher than his father (taken 19th in 1990) and brother (No. 6, in 2016).
That would be fine with everyone, Keith Tkachuk said.
”I would love that,” the proud father said, before breaking into a laugh. ”And Matthew would like it because he doesn’t want to sit in the stands too long watching.”
Brady Tkachuk joked, the only concern is if he gets drafted by Edmonton, and the potential of one day pitting the two Tkachuks against each other in the ever-intense Alberta rivalry between the Oilers and Flames.
”It’s definitely been discussed in my family,” Tkachuk said. ”It would be pretty cool, but I think it would be pretty stressful for the mom.”
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More NHL hockey: Kyrie Irving doesn’t have to worry about free agency until next summer, though he’s got plenty to keep him busy for now.
There’s a movie to promote and a knee to mend. He hopes he’s good on screen, but wants to be better than ever on the court.
”Now becomes the real climb to Mount Everest, back to the top,” Irving said Monday. ”So I’m just taking my time.”
The Boston Celtics All-Star is hoping he can start playing again in a couple weeks. But he’s staying patient in his rehab from late-season surgery because of an infection in his knee Chris Carson Jersey , figuring the extra time can only help after he played deep into June the previous two years with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
He was traded to the Celtics last summer while filming ”Uncle Drew.” The movie, in which he plays an old playground basketball legend who started as a character in Pepsi commercials, premieres in New York on Tuesday and opens nationwide Friday.
The Cavaliers gave Irving’s former jersey number to Collin Sexton, drafted last week with the No. 8 pick that Cleveland acquired from Boston in the trade. But Irving wasn’t upset, saying he already gave away the only Cavs’ No. 2 that matters to him – the one he wore while hitting the biggest shot in the franchise’s history.
That was on Father’s Day in 2016, the night Irving nailed the 3-pointer that helped the Cavaliers beat the Warriors in Game 7 of the NBA Finals for the franchise’s first championship.
”The history, it’s already captured, man,” Irving said. ”I was on one of the best teams in NBA history in my opinion, just accomplishing something that was that much bigger than ourselves. A feat that was, we’re one of no other teams. We’re like 1 of 1, in history. So for me, I think the biggest thing was giving that jersey to my dad, and if that’s where the No. 2 legacy ends, then cool.”
Though Irving asked to be traded – a request LeBron James hoped the Cavs wouldn’t honor – he looks back fondly on his time in what’s now Sexton’s number.
”I gave a lot of commitment and sacrifice to being there from Day 1 DeAndre Washington Jersey , so to have that six-year span of doing some unbelievable things, I’m definitely happy about it,” he said. ”I never shy away from that in terms of Cleveland giving me the opportunity to a 19-year-old kid of wearing No. 2. Now, it’s just a transition in the league.
”There’s no hard feelings from my end. But now he has to start from kind of the chopping block just like everyone else did, so I’m excited for him.”
And he’s excited for ”Uncle Drew,” in which Irving rounds up his old teammates to play in a tournament at New York’s Rucker Park. Shaquille O’Neal, Reggie Miller, Chris Webber and Nate Robinson star as his old running mates. They were on set with him when they started getting alerts that Irving had been traded.
”Once it happened, the dancing just got a little better,” Irving said.
Irving needed three hours of makeup daily to look like a senior citizen before the 14 hours a day of filming. He believes his love of basketball shows up through his role of wise old sage who hangs around the courts – though Irving himself hasn’t played on outdoor playgrounds in years.
His game is indoors now, and he plans on being back there this summer before dealing with his own free agency next summer.
”Not just the same way but also a lot better,” Irving said. ”That’s where the focus has to be. If you leave any room for doubt or uncertainly, I mean you might as well get out of the game.”
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19.09.2018 05:35
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