Matthew Tkachuk: a perfect summer of celebrations turns into a nightmare and he opens up
Winners of the Stanley Cup last June, Matthew Tkachuk and the Florida Panthers celebrated their achievement extensively this summer.
The elder of the two Tkachuk pests has been constantly appearing on social media, partying with Lord Stanley-a well-deserved honor.
However, as everything was going so well, this dream summer quickly turned into a nightmare.
Indeed, the death of Johnny Gaudreau cast a cold shadow over the wonderful moments Matthew Tkachuk was experiencing, and we can understand why.
The two played together in Calgary and on the international stage, representing the United States. They were very close.
It's incredibly sad to end a victorious summer by losing one of your best friends. As we know, hockey is a small world, and there are many very strong friendships.
Matthew Tkachuk doesn't want pity, but this is a very difficult time for him.
"I want to keep his memory alive. [...] It was going to be the best summer of my life, and I have great memories from the last few months, but at the end of this wonderful summer, the unimaginable happened.
Since I left Calgary and came to Florida, all I've done is tell stories about Johnny. I always talked about him. I hated being away from him, and we always spoke.
We were so excited to play together again...
I know I'm lucky and I live a good life; I'm a professional hockey player, but I won't hide that the last few weeks have been extremely, extremely, extremely difficult... I still can't believe it. It's just so sad. All of this."
- Matthew Tkachuk
The death of Johnny Gaudreau truly impacted everyone in the NHL. Matthew Tkachuk, like all others close to Johnny Gaudreau, will have to cope and move on, but Johnny Hockey will always be remembered.
| POLL |
SEPTEMBRE 25 | 167 ANSWERS Matthew Tkachuk: a perfect summer of celebrations turns into a nightmare and he opens up Do you think the NHL will change the name of the Lady Byng Trophy to the Johnny Gaudreau Trophy? |
| Yes | 82 | 49.1 % |
| No | 85 | 50.9 % |
| List of polls |