The NHL season starts tonight, and it’s been a busy off-season for the Tkachuk family dynasty. Matthew celebrated his second Stanley Cup win in a row with the Florida Panthers. He even had his honeymoon with the Cup the same week he got married to his now-wife Ellie. Brady shared his 26th birthday for the first time with his son, Ryder, who turned 1 on the same day. And their father, Keith, joined his sons to appear on the deluxe edition cover of the popular EA Sports video game, NHL 26. “Kids stop you at the rinks and tell you how pumped they are to see Matthew and Brady on the cover. And they love the game. I’m not Keith Tkachuk, the former player, I’m Matthew and Brady's dad. I love that,” Tkachuk said.
Family ties run deep for this father and his two sons, and it's safe to say the Tkachuk brothers grew up with hockey pulsing through their veins. As toddlers, Matthew and Brady, just two years apart, would join their dad Keith at the rink while he trained and played. The Hall of Famer was a five-time NHL All-Star who played 18 seasons in the NHL and retired from the St. Louis Blues in 2010. Now, all three grace the NHL 26 deluxe cover together. “Growing up, these guys played video games, they did kid things, and now they're on something so special that other kids love to do. That is the most amazing feeling as a parent,” Tkachuk said.
Keith’s legendary hockey career wasn’t just on NHL ice, the 6’2” power forward also was a four-time Olympian — yet another title he’ll soon share with his sons. Matthew and Brady both were named as part of the first six players to the U.S. Olympic men’s hockey roster back in June. “They love their country, they love representing their country, but they also love playing with each other,” Tkachuk said. The proud father represented Team USA at the 1992 and 1998 Games, earned a silver medal in Salt Lake City in 2002, and had his sons watching rinkside at the 2006 Games in Torino.
Flash forward to 20 years later and Keith will be in Italy once again. He wouldn’t miss the chance to watch his sons compete for the U.S. at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. “Who knows if this will ever happen again? These guys normally never get the chance to play with each other. It’s going to be a fun tournament, and the atmosphere is going to be ridiculous,” Tkachuk said.
Keith said watching Brady and Matthew play together now reminds him of when they were little, though he fully admits it’s nerve-racking. “It's easier playing than watching your own kids. But we really enjoyed watching them, especially in the Four Nations, that fire that they both have, and the ability to kind of energize the team and light a fire under them,” Tkachuk said.
The “Bash Brothers,” as they sometimes are referred to as, play with such an intense energy and fire that they’ve become known for their physicality. In fact, Matthew and Brady both ended up in the penalty box within the first three seconds of their first 4 Nations matchup with Canada for instigating separate fights. “They make things interesting,” their father Keith said. “You never know what you're going to get from them. They both made it to the NHL on their skill and their character, but they bring other intangibles that you need to a team when things aren't going well.”
The brothers led the U.S. to a runner-up finish at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February after losing in overtime to Canada in the championship game. Despite the loss, Tkachuk said it was the best hockey he’s ever seen dating back to his playing days. And he’s expecting, like many others, to see the 4 Nations Final matchup again at the Olympics. “It's going to be best on best. It’s going to be a hard tournament to win. But you know the expectations have to be a gold medal for USA, but Canada has done it in the past. They've won before, and they're the best team going into this,” said Tkachuk.
Regardless of the outcome, Tkachuk is proud of the role models his sons have become since the time they were just tots hanging with their dad’s NHL teammates at the rink. “I think the most important thing they took out of that was how to handle themselves in the locker room, off the ice with other people, with coaches, trainers, people around the buildings. And that means more to me than the product on the ice,” Tkachuk said.
The Tkachuk brothers and the U.S. men's hockey team begin play on Feb. 12, 2026, against Latvia at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan Cortina.