Tkachuk focused on ‘redemption-type year’
Rivalry games and redemption.
Now that it’s officially official that NHL hockey will be back in mid-january, Calgary Flames fan favourite and alternate captain Matthew Tkachuk is anxious for both.
“I’m looking forward to treating this as kind of a redemption-type year for our team and for myself,” Tkachuk said Sunday, shortly after the NHL and NHLPA finalized an agreement on a 56-game campaign that starts Jan. 13. “This is a weird, weird time and the circumstances are different than what they have normally been. But at the end of the day, we’re back playing hockey and that’s all that we could ask for.”
Perhaps the best part of this return-to-play package — approved Sunday by the board of governors after previously being green-lighted by the union — is that it calls for the seven Canadian squads to face off exclusively in the so-called North Division.
That still hinges on sign-off from the various provincial governments, with those discussions continuing this week, but the NHL made its long-rumoured-albeit-short-term realignment plan public so they must be feeling optimistic that any issues can be ironed out.
Although there was a report a few days back that all of the Canadian teams might need to temporarily relocate to the U.S. for this shortened season, the Flames don’t seem to be searching for a home-awayfrom-home in Houston, Kansas City or, for sentimental reasons, Atlanta. It is likely a positive sign that they’ve already received approval to host training camp — slated to open Jan. 3 — in Calgary.
“Our expectation is that we’ll be playing out of the Saddledome,” said Flames general manager Brad Treliving, whose crew has skated in just 10 games since mid-march, all inside the summer bubble in Edmonton, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “I know that they continue to work through all the protocols and finalize all that sort of stuff, but certainly that is our hope and our expectation.”
It’s too bad there won’t be fans allowed in the building, because the North Division — a necessity due to border closures and quarantine requirements — will serve up a lot of sexy storylines and snowballing spite.
The Flames already have a fierce rivalry with the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks.
There should be some animosity lingering from their summer play-in series against the Winnipeg Jets.
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens always move the needle, and the Ottawa Senators employ Tkachuk’s brother, Brady. Both are as abrasive as they are skilled.
“It’s definitely going to be weird to go from playing him two times a year to potentially 10 times,” Matthew said. “And you never know, maybe a playoff series … I think that’s scaring my parents a little bit.”
Matthew, of course, already has enemies scattered throughout the North Division — a line that starts behind Edmonton’s Zack Kassian. With the Flames facing each of their foes at least nine times in 2021, that list will only grow.