Tkachuk’s tips give opposing goalies fits
Flames winger works on the art of scoring during the team’s practices
CALGARY It’s common to watch a Calgary Flames practice and find Matthew Tkachuk doing this exercise time and time again.
He’ll skate to the front of the net, plant his six-foot-two, 202-pound chassis just outside the crease and face target practice from the blueliners.
Stick at waist height, Tkachuk will bat down pucks one after the other and work on his angle to direct incoming traffic past whatever frustrated Flames goalie is tending twine.
This innate ability to tip pucks is in the 21-year-old’s back pocket, a distinct skill that has come in handy on more than one occasion this season.
“If you watch our practices, he’s (one of ) a handful of guys that practises it a lot and he’s good at it because he works at it,” goalie Mike Smith, who is usually one of the recipients of the left-winger’s hard work, pointed out the other day. “It’s something that’s established by putting in the time to get good at it, to not be afraid to stand there, and when you work at something long enough, you get good at it and confident with it. He’s scored a lot of big goals for us this year because of it.
“It’s noticeable how good he is at it.”
It was noticeable on Sunday in St. Louis, too, when Mark Giordano sent a wrister on Blues’ goalie Jake Allen just 20 seconds into an early man advantage. Tkachuk, whose net-front presence has become a mainstay on the Flames’ high-octane first power-play unit, tipped the shot toward the Blues goaltender and cashed in on the ensuing rebound.
It doesn’t always work, of course. But according to power-play coach Geoff Ward, it gives the Flames an additional option to work with when designing plays.
It also gives goaltenders and players another element to monitor when trying to defend on the penalty kill.
“If you have a guy in front of the net that the goaltender knows can tip well, he may tend to play a little bit tighter to him, which will open stuff at sides of the net that makes your power play more effective,” Ward said. “It’s an acquired skill, obviously. You take a look at guys that are really good at it and practise it an awful lot. But guys put their time in.
“You look at Chucky after practice, he’s always working, always at the front of the net, and it pays off in games.”
Earlier this season in Anaheim, it paid off — again, on the power play — when Tkachuk tipped an Elias Lindholm shot past Ducks goalie Ryan Miller.
The hands. The timing. The knack around the net. Plus, Tkachuk has a flyby screen, so he’s able to block the sightlines of the opposing goalie and able to get a piece of the puck at the same time.
And, of course, the third-year Flame has the guts to stand in front of the net and do what it takes.
“There’s some hand-eye co-ordination and there’s some courage involved to be there,” Flames head coach Bill Peters noted. “You’re going to eat a few once in a while when you’re net front. It’s not always going to lay there and be a rebound for you. You eat them in practice, you eat them during games. It’s worth it, it really is.
“There are guys that make a living doing that and get rewarded handsomely.”
Of course, that is the debate and hot topic with Tkachuk this season — his entry-level contract set to expire at the end of this campaign.
With 15 goals and 25 assists in 34 games, the former London Knights’ star stock is only rising.
But it’s not distracting Tkachuk from putting in the work, which he believes is made possible by the fact that Sean Monahan and Lindholm have been a successful tandem in the faceoff circle, which allows the point shots to come and Tkachuk to work his magic.
“That’s a thing that probably goes under the radar but is very, very important,” Tkachuk said. “Monny and Lindy have been snapping them back there. And we’ve been getting shots to the net early, so there’s pucks around the net for me and Monny to jam them in there, and obviously shots from the point. I think the more shots we get, the more chances in and around the net there are.”
Yeah, OK. But when it comes to tipping pucks at the right time, Tkachuk deserves some credit.
“I don’t really think there is a trick. It’s just practice, to be honest,” he said with a shrug. “I’ve played baseball growing up, so my hand-eye (co-ordination) was always pretty good. I think honestly it’s practice, there’s no, like, film studying or anything you can do to work on it other than practice.
“I’ve always kind of worked on it, it’s not something I like or don’t like, it’s just part of my game if I want to be successful.”
And, whether he scores on it or not, it’s a nightmare for a goaltender.
“There are so many inconsistencies with it that you don’t really know where it’s going when it’s tipped,” Smith said. “It’s almost impossible to control where it’s going after, too. So, the thing about tipping pucks, you might not score on the initial shot, but there’s going to be garbage lying around for everyone else.
“It’s a talent that you don’t just wake up with. It’s something you have to work at, and Chucky does.”