02/26/26 02:08:00
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02/26 14:06 CST Tkachuk returns to the Panthers as a gold medal party awaits
against the Maple Leafs
Tkachuk returns to the Panthers as a gold medal party awaits against the Maple
Leafs
By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Sports Writer
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) --- Matthew Tkachuk is ready to go back to work. That
doesn't mean he's ready to stop celebrating Olympic gold.
Tkachuk --- part of the U.S. men's hockey team that won gold at the Milan
Cortina Games --- is in the Florida Panthers' lineup for their first
post-Olympic game Thursday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Panthers
are throwing a gold medal celebration and U.S. captain Auston Matthews, who
also captains the Maple Leafs, is set to be part of it as well.
"I really think our team really showed what it's like to be true Americans and
the pride we played with and how we would do every single thing for our
country," Tkachuk said, gold medal dangling from his neck. "So, the support
we've gotten is incredible."
It has been a whirlwind since Sunday for Tkachuk: an all-night party in Italy
before a charter flight back to the U.S., more parties with the team in Miami
on Monday, then a trip to the White House for the State of the Union with most
of his Olympic teammates.
And life has been one big celebration for Tkachuk in recent years anyway, with
a Stanley Cup win in 2024, another in 2025, a wedding in there as well --- and
now, gold.
"The hardest thing to do in sports is winning the Stanley Cup," Tkachuk said.
"You go through an 82-game grind and then your four playoff series, some Game
7s probably, and just the physicality and the travel and everything, it's
crazy. Whereas you could almost argue it over there at the Olympics, it's so
hard because it's just one-game elimination."
Tkachuk is one of seven Panthers players who won Olympic hockey medals: Brad
Marchand, Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett won silver medals for Canada, while
Anton Lundell, Niko Mikkola and Eetu Luostarinen won bronze medals with
Finland. Panthers general manager and hockey operations president Bill Zito was
part of the braintrust for the U.S. team in Milan, and equipment manager Teddy
Richards had the same role for the Americans at the Olympics.
They'll all be part of Thursday's ceremonies.
"It's a weird dynamic," Marchand acknowledged. "Obviously we're disappointed
and you want a different outcome, but at the same time, trying to remember to
be grateful for the incredible part of it all."
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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
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