'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
NHL analyst Stu Grimson heaped praise on Florida Panthers star forward Matthew Tkachuk, who was a key part of the Panthers team that won the Stanley Cup in June, defeating the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7.
Tkachuk finished off his second year with the Panthers after being traded from the Calgary Flames. In his first year with Florida, he led them to the Stanley Cup but they lost to the Vegas Golden Knights.
Grimson thinks Tkachuk's arrival in Florida was a key reason for their success.
“There is no question, the moment he arrives in Florida, he helped redefine what this team is all about,” Grimson said on the NHL Network.
"It all starts with the acquisition of Matthew Tkachuk. That moment sets this team on a different trajectory. He is equal parts tough and talented. He will play through anything; scratch, claw, scrape his way to offense or to keep the other team off the page.’’
In his first season with the Panthers, Tkachuk recorded 109 points and this past season, he recorded 88. In the playoffs this past season, he recorded 22 points in 24 games and was a big part of the Panthers team that won the Stanley Cup.
Matthew Tkachuk recalls bringing the Stanley Cup in the ocean
After the Florida Panthers won the Stanley Cup, Matthew Tkachuk was up all night, and in the early hours of the morning, a video went viral of Tkachuk bringing the Cup into the ocean.
Tkachuk opened up on it, which he says he realizes he wasn't supposed to do, but it was an iconic moment.
“I did not know that wasn't allowed, I promise you,” Tkachuk told KSDK News, via HockeyNews. “It was the day after I won, I still hadn’t slept at that point, and it was just me and a few of my teammates.
"We had nobody with us to say, ‘Matthew, don't be an idiot. Don't do that.’ So I thought it was fitting, but if I would have known I wasn't supposed to do it, I wouldn't have done it, but also, I think it's pretty funny.”
Tkachuk is entering the third-year of his eight-year $76 million deal with the Panthers.
