Matthew Tkachuk and the Florida Panthers made their annual trip through Western Canada this week, and he, of course, found time to take a few jabs at the Edmonton Oilers along the way.
It certainly helped that Florida handled Edmonton with ease in a 4–0 shutout win at Rogers Place, which had Tkachuk feeling good heading into his old home to face the Calgary Flames the next night. While things didn’t go so well at the Scotiabank Saddledome (4–1 loss), he was still in good spirits when speaking to the media afterward—taking yet another shot at the Oilers and the city of Edmonton when asked about the new arena coming to Calgary.
“I’m excited. I love this building. I love having the memories here, but I think it’s gonna be great for the city now that they can get all the concerts and the stuff that they’ve been missing… Because, to me, this is the best city in the area, by far. And now, with this new rink, it brings just that much more traction, and I think a lot more people outside of Calgary will see what a great city Calgary is,”
The 28-year-old Tkachuk tallied one assist in the win over the Oilers but was held off the scoresheet in the loss to the Flames. He now sits with 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists) in just 22 games played this season.
While Tkachuk continues to do and say whatever he wants, Edmonton once again showed little pushback on Thursday night, despite plenty of analysts and fans calling for a major response to all the chirps and shade he’s thrown their way since they last played.
Because of that, Tkachuk shouldn’t be expected to stop doing what he does best—antagonizing the Oilers and their fans. If there’s any silver lining, at least they very likely won’t have to watch him and the Panthers in the playoffs this year—and, more importantly, won’t have to face them in the Stanley Cup Finals should they get there.
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