Italy roles flip for Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators Tkachuk brothers with dad Keith in the stands
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Jonathan Ouimet
Jan 25, 2026 (2:05 PM)
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![Feb 13, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; [Imagn Images direct customers only] Team USA forward Matthew Tkachuk (19) celebrates with Team USA forward Auston Matthews (34) his goal against Team Finland in the third period during a 4 Nations Face-Off ice hockey game at Bell Centre.](https://i.marqueur.com/habsetlnh/i/photo/636974.webp "Feb 13, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; [Imagn Images direct customers only] Team USA forward Matthew Tkachuk (19) celebrates with Team USA forward Auston Matthews (34) his goal against Team Finland in the third period during a 4 Nations Face-Off ice hockey game at Bell Centre.")
Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images
Brady Tkachuk and Matthew Tkachuk are headed for the Milan Olympics with Team USA, and Keith Tkachuk is about to watch his sons live the dream he started.
Twenty years ago in Torino, they were the kids in the building while their dad skated for the United States.
Now the roles flip in Italy, and that's the kind of full-circle hockey story that hits you right in the chest.
Keith's Olympic resume is already heavy, four Winter Games for Team USA, plus the silver medal run in 2002.
He also left the NHL as one of the rare American-born power forwards to crack the 500-goal club.
But this part is different, because it's personal, not legacy talk.
Back in 2006, Matthew was eight and Brady was six, walking around the Olympic village and soaking up how big the stage really was.
That memory never left them, and it's a huge reason the Milan moment matters.
The fun part is how «Tkachuk» the vibe always is, the family leans into being annoying to play against, and they wear it like a badge.
Brady Tkachuk lifts Team USA into a family moment
You can already feel how fans will react, proud, a little emotional, and also ready for the chaos they bring shift after shift.
Matthew brings that heavy forecheck and net-front nastiness, and Brady has the same edge that turns a quiet game into a fight for space.
Keith knows exactly what that style costs over a tournament, and he also knows it's how you win medals when the ice gets tight.
That's why this «dad in the stands» angle lands, he understands every bump, every blocked shot, every extra second a coach leans on you.
It's not just a sentimental photo-op either, it's a real hockey marker for USA Hockey.
Torino was their first taste of the Olympic machine, Milan is where they get to own it.
When the puck drops next month, Keith won't be wondering what it feels like anymore, he'll be watching it happen to his kids, in the same country where the dream started.
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