Settling into South Florida, Tkachuk hangs with Marlins

MIAMI -Matthew Tkachuk hasn't stopped smiling since arriving to South Florida.
In addition to getting to know many of his new Florida Panthers teammates while taking part in some up-tempo informal skates at the Panthers IceDen in Coral Springs, the 2022 NHL All-Star forward has spent his first couple weeks in the Sunshine State soaking in his new surroundings.
On Monday, he threw out the ceremonial first pitch for the Miami Marlins.

"Now it feels real," Tkachuk, who was acquired from the Calgary Flames in a blockbuster trade back in July, said before taking the mound at loanDepot Park. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere else. The season's right around the corner. This is where you start to get the goosebumps."
As for his first pitch, he wasn't sweating that.
Growing up in St. Louis, Tkachuk was a multi-sport athlete and played baseball until fully turning his attention to hockey in his early teens. And even though he admitted he was a much bigger fan of "the hitting side" of the sport, he enjoyed getting a chance to dust off his old pitching arm.
So after receiving a custom Marlins home jersey from pitcher Pablo Lopez that featured "Tkachuk" and No. 19 on the back, he strolled out to the rubber at the center of the diamond, went through a quick windup, and tossed the ball to catcher Jacob Stallings at home plate.
Play ball!
"If we were doing batting practice I'd do better, but I'll try to get it over the plate and throw a strike," Tkachuk smiled. "I played second base and then third base growing up to purchase your tickets today!*