Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuck ‘grateful to be an American’ as team celebrates Stanley Cup title with Trump

Tkachuk and the Panthers celebrated the Stanley Cup win at the White House

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Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk had a proud American moment at the White House on Monday as he and his team celebrated their Stanley Cup victory with President Donald Trump.

Tkachuk, who was one of six Americans on the championship-winning roster last season, was able to address the president during the celebration.

“Thank you, Mr. President, for having us today. We greatly appreciate it. Being one of the few Americans, who loves this country so much, it’s such an incredible day for myself. You wake up every day really grateful to be an American. So, thank you,” he said.

Tkachuk then told the president about how special the group of men behind him are. Florida appeared in the Stanley Cup Final for the second consecutive time last season and were able to finally get over the hump and win the trophy for the first time in franchise history.

“This team and this group of guys is special,” he added. “Everybody sees what we do on the ice, but I’ve built bonds with these guys that I’ll have for the rest of my life. I’m forever grateful for these guys. We’re forever champs, and I’ll always remember these guys.”

Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov presented the president with a golden hockey stick and a Panthers sweater that read Trump and No. 47 on the back of it. Trump carried the stick out of the room as he and the team moved to the next event.

The Panthers acquired Tkachuk in a trade with the Calgary Flames before the 2022-23 season, and he has helped elevate Florida ever since.

Tkachuk has 18 goals and 32 assists this season. Florida is back on top of the Atlantic Division with a 32-19-2 record.

Fans react after Matthew Tkachuk fawns all over Donald Trump at the White House today

Tkachuk says meeting with Trump is better than winning the Stanley Cup…

The Florida Panthers were back at The White House today to celebrate their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship with US President Donald Trump.

And just like last year, Matthew Tkachuk spent a considerable amount of time (a cynic may say an awkward amount of time) praising President Trump and extolling all of his virtues.

In fact, Tkachuk went so far as to say that walking with Trump is better than winning two Stanley Cups.

“The two Cups was (sic) pretty good but that walk with you might have trumped it all there, that was pretty amazing,” a beaming Tkachuk said.

“I just want to say on behalf of the whole organization… we are so honored to be here. Being an American, nothing beats this. I’m so proud to be an American and I’m so proud to be here with you,” a gushing Tkachuk said.

Hear Tkachuk’s full comments:

Thankfully the video cuts out before Tkachuk got down on one knee to kiss Trump’s hand… kidding!

As you might imagine, not everyone in the hockey world is as happy as Tkachuk is with how today went down.

I mean, just look at some of these comments from Twitter: