Ottawa's trolling of Brady Tkachuk landed, and it landed clean. The best evidence is the broad smile Tkachuk wore all night while a sold-out Canadian Tire Centre took turns insulting him, his reading comprehension and his podcast.
You don't get to spend years as a beloved captain, sign a seven-year, $57.5 million extension, stand up after the Hurricanes swept Ottawa in the first round and tell everyone you're committed to Ottawa, and then, with two years still left on that deal, privately tell the team you won't re-sign so you can go play with your brother in Florida. The Senators dealt him to the Panthers in June for a pile of picks. Wednesday was the first time he faced his old teammates since, and the crowd had been waiting.
They booed the tribute video. They booed through the entire game, pausing only for the moment of silence and the anthems. Lars Eller, who played in Ottawa last season before also leaving for Florida, got a standing ovation later in the night. The anger was aimed squarely at one guy, the one who said he was staying and then left.
RatingThe execution was sharp. "You eat crayons." "Traitor." "Matthew's better." "Who's your daddy?" Fans taped an X over the captain's C on their own jerseys and covered his name on the back with "Wingmen is trash." In the third period, dozens of Tkachuk sweaters came flying over the glass onto the ice. He'd seen that one coming and pre-empted it on his podcast, announcing any jerseys tossed would be donated to the Ottawa Boys and Girls Club. Even that landed in Ottawa's favor: the city turned his jersey into charity and he got to look gracious about it. Everybody won except his dignity.
Some of the signage went after the whole family, including the board reading "Keith = No Cup, Matthew = No Class, Brady = No Loyalty." Keith Tkachuk, a Hall of Fame forward, didn't force anything. Matthew didn't put a pen in Brady's hand. Going after them for Brady's choices is where the night tipped from deserved roast into cheap shot, and the fans who did it should own that.
Blame the atmosphere on the right people, though. Tkachuk built this with his own public commitment and private exit. Owner Michael Andlauer all but handed the crowd its material a month earlier, floating his belief that Brady's brother and dad pushed him toward Florida. Once ownership frames it as the family pulling the strings, you can't act shocked when the family ends up on the signs.
Tkachuk's own verdict afterward gave it away: "No, it was good. Shows the passion that they have." He meant it. He enjoyed it. A man who got genuinely wounded doesn't grin his way through three periods of abuse.
He gets another crack from this crowd when he's back in Ottawa later this season. Wednesday was round one, and a jilted fanbase played it about as well as a jilted fanbase can. Everything they threw at Brady Tkachuk, he ordered himself.
