Perhaps the story of the weekend at this year's NHL-Allstar game was Brady Tkachuk and his brother Matthew playing alongside each other for the first time ever. Even an outsider would be hard pressed to ignore the media circus trailing the two of them everywhere they went at the opening media availability on Thursday.
Thematic of the weekend Brady paired up with his brother for the opening event "Splash Shot." In this event players were tasked with a shooting challenge where they had to knock down six surf boards before hitting an NHL target attached to a dunk tank with their opponent sitting ready to be sunk. The Tkachuk's went up against New York Rangers forward Adam Fox and goaltender Igor Shesterkin in the first round. After Adam Fox dunked Matthew in 26 seconds, Brady had that much time to sink Shesterkin, in which he came up short.
Next up Brady helped Matthew in the "Breakaway Challenge" in which players were tasked with coming up with the most creative breakaway possible to be scored by judges. Matthews routine saw Brady come out decked out for a day at the beach. Sittign in the left face-off circle on a beach chair Brady had a bucket hat on, floral button up shirt, swim trunks, and a biosteel cooler in tow. Matthew also brought out teammate Aleksander Barkov and Miami Dolphins defensive end Christian Wilkins to set the scene before taking a shot on Panthers legend Roberto Luongo.
The boys put on a heck of a scene but fell just short to Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin and special guest Sergei "Ovi Jr." Ovechkin. Hard to beat a four year old playing alongside two legends but the vibes the Tkachuk's brought were worth honourable mention at the very least!
The main event of the weekend was absolutely dominated by the Tkachuk brothers early! Playing alongside each other for the first time in their lives as the starters for the Atlantic Divison, alongside Matthew's Panthers teammate Aleksander Barkov.
In the first game Brady tallied a goal and three assists as the Atlantic ran right past the Metropolitan division 8-6 to advance to the finals. Matthew provided the assist on what Brady's goal in what he described as "a pretty special moment." Matthew added a hat trick of his own and two assists as the Tkachuk's combined for nine points in the opening game!
The championship game saw the Atlantic division face-off against the Central division where once again the Atlantic ran away early jumping out to a 4-0 lead before the Central was able to light the lamp. Brady tallied one assist in the game on the opening goal to who else but his brother as Matthew went on to win the All-Star game MVP with four goals and three assists for seven points in front of his home crowd.
