Ottawa spent Wednesday night making its feelings about Brady Tkachuk extremely clear, throwing his old jerseys onto the ice, drowning out his tribute video and working through a list of chants that ran well past a dozen. William Nylander of the Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t watch the game, but had one thing he needed to know.
“Were they throwing snakes at Brady?” Nylander asked, via TSN.
Brady Tkachuk’s last three games:
| Date | Opponent | Goals | Assists | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 15 | Vancouver | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Oct 17 | Seattle | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Oct 21 | Ottawa | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Why did Islanders fans throw snakes at John Tavares?
John Tavares left the New York Islanders in free agency in 2018 to sign with his hometown Maple Leafs, and Long Island decided he was a snake for it. When he came back to the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in 2019, supporters spent the night on vulgar chants and threw plastic snakes in his direction.
Nylander watched that one from a few feet away, since Tavares has been his teammate in Toronto ever since. By that standard, Tkachuk got off lightly.
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The comparison holds up in other ways too. Tavares committed to the Islanders publicly before leaving. Tkachuk told Ottawa he was all in after their playoff exit last spring, then requested a trade shortly afterwards and used his no-movement clause to join his brother Matthew Tkachuk in Florida.
Tkachuk did score the opening goal on Wednesday, which bought him nothing. The Senators won 5-1, then played his old three-star song on a loop in the dressing room afterwards.
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