Ever wondered what it’s like for a family with two NHL star sons playing in the playoffs, with the tight schedule and the coinciding matches? Do they jet around the country and keep their affiliations open depending on the line up or do they make a hard and fast decision about who they are supporting that year?

Well, we suppose it works differently in every household, but in the Tkachuk’s family, it seems that this year is not so much about Matthew Tkachuk who made his first playoff appearance in 2017 with the Calgary Flames, but rather about Brady Tkachuk, who’s going through a hard time with his debut.

After the Senator’s 2-3 loss to the Maple Leaf’s at the Canadian Tire Centre earlier today, the press was able to catch up with Brady in a post game interview, where they asked him what it meant to have his family in the stands. “First experience in the playoffs is special, and always want to share that with them. And yeah I mean I think it’d be better with different results, but to have their support and feel their support means the world to me,” an emotional Brady answered.

He added, “I mean it’s always nice to have their support, just know that they’re going to have our back every step of the way here.” It was clear in the video that Brady was trying hard to look on the bright side for the sake of his family and for his mental wellbeing. However, with 4 games left in the series, it was also clear that it’s getting hard to do that.

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Brady Tkachuk has had a sub optimal playoffs debut, to put it lightly. First he entered the series with a recent upper body injury sustained on March 30th in a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and second, in his playoff debut he got seriously heckled by the impassioned crowd. So if his parents are making the decision to forego Matthew Tkachuk’s game’s this year (which are incidentally going well) and attend Brady’s, then kudos them!

Brady Tkachuk’s playoff debut compared to Matthew Tkachuk’s and the current season he’s having

These sorts of comparisons are often completely redundant because how can you compare two different players, in different years, dealing with a whole different set of variables, just because they have the same last name? Well, you can’t, but it does play a role in the way their family decides to consequently support them.

Matthew Tkachuk is well past the pressures of a playoffs debut. As he had his in 2017 with the Calgary Flames and managed to score in that first post season game! Since then Matthew has gone from strength to strength. He has refined his play and bagging the cup with the Panthers in 2023 amassed 24 points over 20 games (11 goals and 13 assists).

Matthew Tkachuk had a solid playoff return with 2 goals and an assist in the first game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He did this despite also having returned from an injury that had him listed as day-to-day, according to head coach Paul Maurice. In any case, it is blatantly clear which Tkachuk is in need of support from the stands at the moment, and their parents know that.