Player Discussion Brady Tkachuk (LW) - Part XI

[PlayOn]

But again, if the injury is such that he can play through it (and it clearly is, since he did play on Thursday, and did so quite well), why didn't he play through it, again, tonight? Whatever pain management he did... do it again.

Thursday was a massive game for US Hockey. These 26 games coming up are massive games for the Senators organization. And after tonight, it's a rough start to the most important stretch this team has seen since Karlsson was leading the charge in 16/17.

The attitude should be that unless my leg is falling off, I want to be out there so we can put an end to these 7 years of utter futility. Every 2pts in the bank matters.

For the same reason players play through all kinds of crazy shit in the playoffs and less so in the regular season… pain management in the form of excessive pain killers and injections is not ideal.

If the decision is rest it so he can come back Wednesday, and the argument is that this one game is what cost Ottawa the season, I just can’t agree with that. For starters I doubt they win this game with Brady and beyond that, no individual game is the reason why we make or miss the playoffs. Your captain can’t play, step up in his absence. That’s what good teams do.

But we can agree to disagree. Yes I think Brady valued a game he equated to a SCF more than one regular season game in Ottawa (and I think every player on those rosters did too, and would have even in his same position), no I don’t think that means he values it more than Ottawa as a whole.

 

[DackellDuck]

For the same reason players play through all kinds of crazy shit in the playoffs and less so in the regular season… pain management in the form of excessive pain killers and injections is not ideal.

If the decision is rest it so he can come back Wednesday, and the argument is that this one game is what cost Ottawa the season, I just can’t agree with that. For starters I doubt they win this game with Brady and beyond that, no individual game is the reason why we make or miss the playoffs. Your captain can’t play, step up in his absence. That’s what good teams do.

But we can agree to disagree. Yes I think Brady valued a game he equated to a SCF more than one regular season game in Ottawa (and I think every player on those rosters did too, and would have even in his same position), no I don’t think that means he values it more than Ottawa as a whole.

I mean, considering the race we’re in, we could easily miss by 2 pts. It’s a fairly likely scenario that we’re either in or out by a margin of a couple points.

My argument is that that isn’t just a random regular season game.

- We were already going to be without two top 6 forwards
- We had lost 3 in a row coming into it
- We were playing a division rival, at home
- 2 of our next 3 are against Winnipeg and Washington, two of the best teams in the NHL

If there was a game where the captain should’ve said “I’m going boys, you’re not playing with 11 forwards, if I step out there the crowd will be buzzing, I’m playing with the same intensity I had on Thursday so follow my lead because these are two points we gotta bank”… this would’ve been one of them.

Now we’re in a situation where we have to beat either Washington or Winnipeg (plus San Jose which isn’t a gimme), otherwise we’ll be on a 2-6 (or worse) streak, which sounds awfully familiar to those pesky “8 games that blew our season” runs we’ve had before.

The games over though so no sense dwelling on it. I hope Brady takes the bull by the horns on Wednesday.

 

[PlayOn]

I mean, considering the race we’re in, we could easily miss by 2 pts. It’s a fairly likely scenario that we’re either in or out by a margin of a couple points.

My argument is that that isn’t just a random regular season game.

- We were already going to be without two top 6 forwards
- We had lost 3 in a row coming into it
- We were playing a division rival, at home
- 2 of our next 3 are against Winnipeg and Washington, two of the best teams in the NHL

If there was a game where the captain should’ve said “I’m going boys, you’re not playing with 11 forwards, if I step out there the crowd will be buzzing, I’m playing with the same intensity I had on Thursday so follow my lead because these are two points we gotta bank”… this would’ve been one of them.

Now we’re in a situation where we have to beat either Washington or Winnipeg (plus San Jose which isn’t a gimme), otherwise we’ll be on a 2-6 (or worse) streak, which sounds awfully familiar to those pesky “8 games that blew our season” runs we’ve had before.

And maybe a lot of what he was able to do on Thursday was pure adrenaline. For all we know Brady wanted to play and realized he just didn’t have it. While you might want him to view this game the same as he did the finals, I don’t think it’s a realistic ask.

This board has been saying every game is must-win since November. If the players had that level of emotional volatility they would never be able to recover from a loss. I think Brady can hold the perspective that there are 25 games remaining and that they will find a way without putting immense focus on one singular game and instead recognizing where he’s at physically vs where he’d like to be.

Anyway I get your point, but personally I just don’t feel that way. I guess we’ll see what happens and how much time he ends up missing.

 

[DackellDuck]

And maybe a lot of what he was able to do on Thursday was pure adrenaline. For all we know Brady wanted to play and realize he just didn’t have it. While you might want him to view this game the same as he did the finals, I don’t think it’s a realistic ask.

This board has been saying every game is must-win since November. If the players had that level of emotional volatility they would never be able to recover from a loss. I think Brady can hold the perspective that there are 25 games remaining and that they will find a way without putting immense focus on one singular game and instead recognizing where he’s at physically vs where he’d like to be.

Anyway I get your point, but personally I just don’t feel that way. I guess we’ll see what happens and how much time he ends up missing.

Putting his skates on and getting out there for 10 even strength minutes + powerplays would’ve given the team a better chance to win than having to go 11-7 with Hamonic as the 7th.

It finally looked like Green was going to make Hamonic a healthy and Tkachuk said no you can’t do that to my guy I’ll sit instead.

But in all seriousness, this team needs to start showing a lot more urgency. I’d like to see immense focus on every game. Like I said, 7 years and no playoffs. Brady’s been here for 6 of those seasons. That fire should be burning hotter than the desire to win the 4Nations.

 

[PlayOn]

Putting his skates on and getting out there for 10 even strength minutes + powerplays would’ve given the team a better chance to win than having to go 11-7 with Hamonic as the 7th.

It finally looked like Green was going to make Hamonic a healthy and Tkachuk said no you can’t do that to my guy.

Are those 10 minutes better than him just resting his body so he can come back stronger? I don’t know the answer to that but I think there is some nuance here.

 

[DackellDuck]

Are those 10 minutes better than him just resting his body so he can come back stronger? I don’t know the answer to that but I think there is some nuance here.

That’s kind of my point. If it’s a “I just need one extra day of rest” then that doesn’t seem like all that serious an injury.

You do probably take that day in November. Or if you have a 10pt cushion on a playoff spot.

But we’re not in that situation. We’re clinging to a wildcard and we’re on a 3 game losing streak.

If you can play, even if you’re at 50-75%, you should play, considering the team had to go out, essentially, a man down. Especially as the captain.

Now, maybe the injury is much more serious and he’ll be out for several games. In that case, it’ll suck but him missing tonight will make more sense, so I guess we’ll find out Wednesday.

With our luck the injury happened when he tripped after the game in the locker room and he’ll be out 3 weeks while Green says “hopefully” every time he’s asked if he’ll be back next game.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

Whether warranted or not, the Sens and Brady made their bed. They can’t complain about the negative noise after that loss.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

Not gonna lie, I went HARD at my work's football championship game last night.

I just called in work to take the day off and I just got written up... WTF??!? This isn't universal???

Can someone PLEASE send Brady to come knock down my boss a few times so I can get the day off for being intense.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Not gonna lie, I went HARD at my work's football championship game last night.

I just called in work to take the day off and I just got written up... WTF??!? This isn't universal???

Seriously. Wish us normal working class slugs got all the perks of the pro athletes.




Now, I get what some folks here are saying. And I definitely worry about Walt and the whole Tkachuk clan. And that looming NMC. BUT....I'm gonna dial it back a bit and wait. For sure Brady had something going on after that hit into the post (against Sweden or the Finns?). I wouldn't be surprised if there is an injury there they're a bit unsure of. Best to take a few days off now, than to do something foolish and make it worse then be out a month in March.

At the same time....the whole "can't sustain it" and stuff....no. Just, no. I don't need to see him rack up 20 hits a game, but I do expect a more consistent effort going forward. Those 5+ game pointless streaks or being invisible on the ice for a couple games in a row...he's got to scrub that out of his repertoire. And fast. We know now what he's capable of doing when he elevates. Now he has to take his regular game to the next level.

 

[Boud]

I’m not up in arms about him not playing today but I will be if he doesn’t play the rest of the season with the intensity that he did during that tournament.

Brady looked like arguably the best forward in the tournament. This is what he can do. He doesn’t play like this consistently in Ottawa. I get it’s impossible to keep this level of intensity 82 games but we need him to play at that level 75% of the time.

 

[Ice-Tray]

Karlsson was a soldier that put everything out on the ice. Tkachuk just can’t maintain that work ethic.

Ek is now a soldier exemplifying work ethic?

Oh boy, we’ve gone off the deep end.

 

[Ice-Tray]

Not gonna lie, I went HARD at my work's football championship game last night.

I just called in work to take the day off and I just got written up... WTF??!? This isn't universal???

Can someone PLEASE send Brady to come knock down my boss a few times so I can get the day off for being intense.

Your workplace sucks. Get a better job.

 

[jbeck5]

First best on best since 2014, politically charged, players clearly playing like it meant everything to them.

It meant a lot to the players. Meaningless is very subjective here.

It's not Olympics. It's not even world cup.

I don't remember players putting the tournament with the u23 team ahead of their NHL teams.

It's just a one off gimmick tournament. There won't ever be another "4 nation's" tournament.

This shouldn't take priority over a playoff run for a team that hasn't made the playoffs in 8 years.

They'll have the Olympics NEXT YEAR.

THAT will be the big one. Not this.

 

[jbeck5]

I am mad at the NHL.The timing of the tournament was clueless. Why play a tournament when teams are making the push for the playoffs in late February.
Clearly you play a tournament like that before the season begins from September 18 to September 30. The World Series Playoffs would have not started yet. You let them go to training camp for a few days ( or not at all) to practice with their home teams around September 15, then go off to and represent their countries in the 4 Nations Cup. None of those players would be playing in the exhibition season games until the very end of the preseason anyways. So it's not like they are needed at training camp.
Then they would report back after the 4 Nations Cup to play an exhibition game or two and then start the regular season around October 11. So the injured players would have some time to heal and if they missed time at the beginning of the season at least it's not during the playoff push.

This. Weren't world cups traditionally in the summer to avoid injuries before playoffs?

 

[jbeck5]

I think that’s a strange assumption. He played a fantastic game against Minnesota not long before the tournament off the top of my head, and he has barely ever missed a game. Of all the people to think “I should take it easy so I don’t get hurt”, I’d have to think Brady is one of the last people to worry about that.

If the injury was that bad and playing wasn’t a risk to further injure it, it doesn’t make a huge difference - he’d still be out tonight.

Guys like McDavid, Eichel, Matthew Tkachuk - who have played at the biggest possible stage in the NHL - equated that game to the SCF. Nobody on those rosters was skipping that game unless they physically could not play. People can get mad at Brady but the next captain would do the same thing because these players all placed a huge level of importance on the tournament.

We've seen star players reject the Olympics to focus on the upcoming playoff run.

Didn't Patrick Roy, who already won multiple cups, still prioritize a Stanley cup run with Colorado in 2002 ahead of potentially winning an Olympic gold medal?

 

[Whippet]

Will be absolutely fuming if we miss out the playoffs with 1-2 points.

This game could have been winnable with him playing, and he knows it.

 

[jbeck5]

On the Brady's future conversation, this is what Big Walt said on the Missin' Curfew podcast:



Stevey Staios likes to be patient and steady, and Garrioch has reported that there won't be much activity from us other than maybe something on the periphery... so is the "that's what I expect" an ultimatum? If you don't go for it now, it's not Brady's fault when you miss, and why should he stay there if you aren't willing to push some chips in?

Before Florida's first SCF run a couple years ago, Keith went on Toronto radio and called their team soft. The roster responded.

This time it seems he's calling out our management group. Will we respond?

He was calling out a team that finished 4th overall in the league 2 years before, and won the president's trophy the year before.

Major difference. One was a top 5 team playing like ass.

We're an average team playing average hockey..not much the sens or management can do in such short notice. We probably need a huge roster overhaul at this point.

That sounds like a Steve Staios problem, not a Keith Tkachuk problem.

If the Tkachuk camp wants the team to add, and they don't add, I don't think the "well I put myself in a situation where I had no cap space at the deadline" explanation is going to get them to say "oh okay no biggie then."

GMs of capped teams are creative all the time. How often do you see 3 team trades with double retention? Happens pretty regularly at the deadline.

This isn't a Keith Tkachuk issue either...soo..

If Keith wants to be a GM, he can apply like the rest of us!

 

[Golden_Jet]

This. Weren't world cups traditionally in the summer to avoid injuries before playoffs?

Last time was started middle of September,

 

[umma gumma]

Will be absolutely fuming if we miss out the playoffs with 1-2 points.

This game could have been winnable with him playing, and he knows it.

lol there have been several winnable games this season that we didn't win. Not sure how you're able to single out this one game. Lots of points have been left on the table this season beyond last night.

 

[Micklebot]

It's not Olympics. It's not even world cup.

I don't remember players putting the tournament with the u23 team ahead of their NHL teams.

Teams have to release players to play for an u23 team, no team is doing that, so that's probably why you don't remember it.

The tournament was a best on best of rival countries, no it's not the Olympics, but it is the same players putting on the same jerseys and competing against each other, the rivalry that exists between the. USA and Canada on the ice doesn't cease because of who puts on the tournament.

It's just a one off gimmick tournament. There won't ever be another "4 nation's" tournament.

Ok, but for the players playing in it, it's the same guys putting on the same jersey playing the same sport.

This shouldn't take priority over a playoff run for a team that hasn't made the playoffs in 8 years.

If we're being honest here, winning gold in a best on best tournament is a more meaningful career achievement than making the playoffs. The fact that our team has missed the last 7 playoffs doesn't change that.

They'll have the Olympics NEXT YEAR.

THAT will be the big one. Not this.

These guys need to live in the present, they might not make the Olympic team next year, they might not be healthy when it happens, saying they'll have the Olympics next year is no different than saying there will be a regular season next year.

It sucks that Brady wasn't able to play last night as a result of playing in the 4 nations, but turning his playing in the final game into a character flaw is downright bizarre.

 

[Rand0m]

At the end of the day, the fans of Team USA aren’t the ones paying Brady’s salary, the Sens fans are.

The games were good but it was still a meaningless tournament that has a pretty big body count so far… I’m not sure the owners can be very pleased with losing some key players down the stretch.

 

[JediOrderPizza]

Hopefully he is fine, would be dumb to see you guys miss over some dumb stuff.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

 

[Senscore]

I knew it. It was bad sushi on the flight back to Ottawa.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

I knew it. It was bad sushi on the flight back to Ottawa.

benefit of the doubt but..that's what we should expect him to say regardless