Being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame is an honor that is reserved for a select few who are the greatest to ever play the game. The next best thing then, is to have one of your personal effects placed in the Hall.
For Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk, that personal effect is one of his nasty-ass mouthguards.
The Panthers sent some stuff up to Toronto to go in an exhibit honoring their Stanley Cup win over the Edmonton Oilers in an instant-classic, seven-game series.
See that little blue case upfront?
Yup…
Tkachuk, one of the league’s premiere agitators with the added bonus of bringing a ton of offensive upside to the lineup was instrumental in both the Panthers’ two consecutive runs to the Stanley Cup Final.
One of Tkachuk’s most noticeable on-ice characteristics is that he’s always gnawing on his mouthguard that hangs from his mouth.
Now, there’s nothing particularly unusual about that. Plenty of guys do that, and, in fact, when I think of players synonymous with chomping on their mouthpieces like that, I don’t think of Tkachuk, I usually think of Patrick Kane.
However, it’s fitting that one of Tkachuk’s mouthguards made it into the Hall of Fame because it actually played a role in the Panthers’ postseason run.
During the Panthers’ Eastern Conference Final series with the New York Rangers, Tkachuk got into it with Rangers forward Chris Kreider, who wound up with one of Tkachuk’s mouthguards in his hand, which he promptly tossed into the stands.
Kreider downplayed the incident at the time — because throwing anything into the crowd can carry some pretty harsh penalties including suspensions — but it was pretty clear that it happened.
That’s a pretty cool honor for Tkachuk, I just hope whoever was tasked with putting the exhibit together had some gloves on.
Speaking from experience, hockey mouthguards can be incredibly gross.
