Senators fans crossed a line with two unacceptable Brady Tkachuk chants in Ottawa
Photo credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Senators fans booed Brady Tkachuk hard in Ottawa on Wednesday, but chants about his reading and his hairline went past booing and into cheap shots.
Brady Tkachuk heard exactly what he expected in Ottawa on Wednesday night, but a few chants at Canadian Tire Centre went well beyond normal booing.
Senators fans turned on their former captain loudly, and some of the material crossed a line.
Tkachuk spent eight seasons in Ottawa, five of them as captain, before asking for a trade and landing with the Florida Panthers on June 21.
He joined his brother Matthew there, which fans clearly had not forgotten.
Alex Adams kept a running list of the chants as the night went on.
Where the chants crossed the line
A lot of what the crowd sang was fair game.
Calling him a traitor or a sellout, saying the team does not need him, comparing him to Matthew: all of that is about a hockey decision he made, and fans paid for the right to be loud about it.
The reading chant and the one about his hairline are different.
Mocking someone for how well they read is a cheap shot whether it's true or not, and if it is true, it's far worse.
Making fun of a person's looks isn't any better.
Neither one has anything to do with where he plays.
Ottawa won the game anyway
The Senators did the real damage on the ice, beating Florida 5-1 to improve to 7-3-0.
Tim Stutzle and Stephen Halliday each had a goal and an assist, while Claude Giroux, Shane Pinto and Warren Foegele also scored.
Tkachuk did get on the board, scoring a power-play goal in the first period on a feed from Matthew.
That did not save his night.
Boo him all night if you want. Loud, angry and a little petty comes with the territory when a captain leaves.
Just leave his reading and his hair out of it.
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Brady Tkachuk gets sent off after late-game chaos as Senators crush Panthers in hostile Ottawa return
Brady Tkachuk gets sent off after late-game chaos as Senators crush Panthers in hostile Ottawa return