No ill will on play with Leafs goalie
Tkachuk, Flames deny any ill intent over Sunday play with Leafs goalie
It's been slowed down, chopped up and dissected from every possibly angle.
Depending on who is watching, you might see Calgary Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk get tangled up with Toronto Maple Leafs defender TJ Brodie and fall on top of goaltender Jack Campbell as he fights to put a loose puck in the back of the net to tie the game in the final minute of Sunday's game, which the Leafs won 3-2.
Alternatively, you watched the play and convinced yourself Tkachuk made a malicious split-second decision to try to viciously injure the Leafs goalie by driving his knees into the back of Campbell's neck. Leafs fans, in particular, seem to be inclined toward seeing the play this way.
On Monday, Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe called it a non-issue. Flames head coach Geoff Ward described it as a “play that happened in the flow of the hockey game.”
For his part, Tkachuk explained that there was no ill intent on the play.
“It was just a battle in front, I actually thought my tip-in went in, 6-on-5 situation, just bang away at the puck and I live in that crease area throughout the games,” Tkachuk said.
“I was just digging for the puck, I was battling with (Brodie) there, guys sort of coming in. I just got knocked over, I obviously didn't (have any) intention of falling into him or anything. It's just a complete, a classic thing to try to accuse me of there, but just trying to battle for the puck, find the loose puck and try to pot home the game-tying (goal) and unfortunately that didn't happen.”
Unsurprisingly, Tkachuk's explanation wasn't enough to placate the social media horde that had convinced itself the
Flames winger had been trying to injure Campbell.
Tkachuk's reputation likely means that no explanation was going to clear his name in some people's eyes. That's the reality of playing the way Tkachuk does. Fans outside Calgary aren't eager to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Ward, though, was quick to defend his player.
“Are we really talking about this? Seriously?” Ward said.
“If people are wondering did Matthew hurt the goaltender, he didn't get hurt on that play. He got hurt earlier and he stood in there tough the rest of the game, which is a credit to him.
“On that play, Juuso (Valimaki) threw the puck in the pads and the puck is not covered, it's loose. Matthew, off the deflection, was trying to track the loose puck down and, you know, Brods comes in behind him and actually puts his leg between his skates and cuts under him. I think he loses his balance and kind of falls into him with Brods. To me, it's a play that happened in the flow of the hockey game. You know what? To be honest with you, if that's anybody else we're not even talking about it. Because it's Matthew Tkachuk, now it's an issue. If that's Johnny Gaudreau or somebody else falling on the goaltender we're not even talking about it. There was not intent there to injure him.”
Campbell didn't skate with the Leafs on Monday and won't be available for Tuesday's rematch at the Scotiabank Saddledome (7 p.m. MT, Sportsnet One/sportsnet 960 The Fan), although the Leafs did not reveal why and the goaltender did appear to be struggling through an injury prior to the incident with Tkachuk.
When he was asked directly about the Tkachuk play, Keefe had little to say.
“I didn't take it as anything, really,” he said. “I haven't thought about it or discussed it.
It's a non-issue for me.”
Will it be a non-issue in Tuesday's game? Nobody on either team has made it sound like it will be, and it's quite possible that this will all wind up being little more than a timely reminder that judging anything based on the way it's perceived on Twitter is a bad idea.
“I get very surprised at some of the things that come out of people's mouths these days, but it's a good thing I don't listen to it. I just get asked it from other people,” Tkachuk said. “Thank God I don't go on my phone too much after games, otherwise I'd drive myself crazy. I know my parents do, it drives them crazy, but it's just classic. It's classic.”
The Flames could have their AHL affiliate awfully close by this season.
According to a report by Scott Linesburgh, a sports writer at the Record newspaper in Stockton,
Calif., the Stockton Heat will be relocating to Calgary for the season.
The Heat are the Flames' AHL affiliate, have played in the California city since 2015 and were expected to continue playing in Stockton as recently as last Friday when the AHL released its schedule for the season. The Heat were set to kick off their year in Colorado on Feb. 5.
Neither the Flames or the AHL could comment on the potential move.
Moving to Calgary would mean the Heat could play in an all-canadian division that would include the Laval Rocket, Belleville Senators, Toronto Marlies and Manitoba Moose.
It would also make it less complicated to call players up to the NHL roster without needing them to go through a two-week quarantine after crossing the U.s.-canada border.