Matthew Tkachuk reveals gruesome injury he played through
It's an annual tradition in hockey: a playoff run ends, and a player reveals they were playing through a horrifying injury at the end of the year. Everyone talks "hockey culture" and "grit" and the cycle begins anew.
That's the case with Matthew Tkachuk. The Florida Panthers forward who once revealed his broken sternum (!) in 2023 after a playoff loss to the Vegas Golden Knights had a serious injury that he played through in winning his second consecutive Stanley Cup.
Advertisement
How bad was it? As he told Darren Pang after the win -- and I'll stop here and say, WARNING: if you're grossed out by injuries, you may want to stop here -- he "tore the adductor [muscle] off the bone and had some hernia thing, all on the same side."
GAH!
Matthew Tkachuk celebrated the Stanley Cup as you'd expect he would
Horrifying injury or not, it's time to enjoy a second straight Cup.
Just wild.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Matthew Tkachuk injury after Panthers' Stanley Cup win is gruesome
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CNBC
18 minutes ago
- CNBC
Canada's Stanley Cup dry spell stretches to 32 years as Edmonton flops in Finals
The Florida Panthers extended Canada's agonizing Stanley Cup drought to 32 years with a 5-1 win over Edmonton in Game Six on Tuesday, a second straight Finals defeat for the Oilers which left their fans devastated and players searching for answers. It was the eighth time a Canadian team reached the Finals but fell short since the Montreal Canadiens won the NHL championship in 1993. It was also the second Finals in a row that the Panthers beat the Oilers, who became the first team to lose back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals since the Boston Bruins in 1977-1978. Oilers captain Connor McDavid, arguably the best player in the league, said his team had given everything in the best-of-seven series. "Nobody quit, nobody threw the towel in," he added. "They're a heck of a team. They're Stanley Cup champions back-to-back for a reason. "Never really able to generate any momentum up the ice. We kept trying the same thing over and over again, banging our heads against the wall," he told reporters. "Still a lot of confidence and belief. I don't think people thought we were going to make it this far - we obviously believed. Came up just short again," added McDavid, who last year won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs. From "the Great One" Wayne Gretzky to Mark "the Moose" Messier and "Mr. Hockey" himself, Gordie Howe, the proud sons of the Great White North have created ice hockey lore to last generations. The Canadian men's and women's teams have won 14 Olympic gold medals between them, yet the country's NHL sides continually fail to get their hands on the trophy. The Oilers had home advantage in the series despite an injury-plagued season but that mattered little to the Panthers, who won seven of their last eight games on the road. Goaltender Stuart Skinner, who got the nod over Calvin Pickard for Game Six, said the Oilers had to find out what went wrong. "We need to learn from this right away, right now. Letting it happen two times in a row is devastating," he said. Prime Minister Mark Carney struck an optimistic tone on social media, as he rallied his compatriots to keep faith. "Proud of the Oilers' grit. Proud of the guys for getting us to this moment. Heads high," Carney wrote. "Next year."
Yahoo
18 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Stuart Skinner to start Game 6 of Stanley Cup final with Oilers facing elimination
FORT LAUDERDALE — Stuart Skinner is getting the call with his team's season on the line. The Oilers goaltender will start Tuesday in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final against the Florida Panthers with Edmonton facing elimination in the NHL's title series. Advertisement "Definitely know that I have the confidence of my teammates and the coaching staff," Skinner said after the morning skate. "There's obviously a lot of belief." Skinner was pulled in Game 4 after allowing three goals on 17 shots in the first period. Calvin Pickard took over and made 22 saves the rest of the in the Oilers' 5-4 overtime victory. The veteran journeyman got the net in Game 5, surrendering four goals on 18 shots in Florida's 5-2 win that moved the Panthers within one victory of the team's second straight Cup win after topping Edmonton in seven last June. "It might sound weird … I felt like I played well," Skinner said of Game 4. "But sometimes that happens. It's just life. Especially as a goalie, it can be hard sometimes." Advertisement The Edmonton product is 7-3 in these playoffs with an .891 save percentage and 2.99 goals-against average. The Oilers are set to make two other lineup changes, with winger Kasperi Kapanen coming in for Viktor Arvidsson and John Klingberg suiting up in place of Troy Stecher on defence. Game 7, if necessary, would be Friday in Edmonton. Kapanen, who sat out Game 5, has three goals and three assists for six points in 11 contests this post-season. "Can get in on the forecheck, can make a play," Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said. "When he's dialled in, he's a really good hockey player." Advertisement Klingberg re-enters the fray after sitting out Games 4 and 5. The blueliner has one goal and three assists in 18 playoff contests as part of Edmonton's run to the final Knoblauch added that he expects forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who missed Monday's practice and Tuesday's on-ice session with an undisclosed injury, to play in Game 6. Skinner, meanwhile, was also benched in the first round with Edmonton down 2-0 to the Los Angeles Kings. Pickard took over and won six straight starts before getting hurt in Game 2 of the second round against the Vegas Golden Knights, which opened the door for Skinner. "He's done it for numerous years in a row now," Oilers centre Leon Draisaitl said of Skinner. "We went to Game 7 in the Stanley Cup final last year. He was amazing in the playoffs. He's had incredible games this year. There's just a trust factor that we know that he can get the job done for us. Advertisement "He was amazing in the first period (of Game 4) … it was us that let him down. We have full belief in him." Oilers forward Adam Henrique has been impressed with Skinner's mental makeup and ability to bounce back. "That's a pressure-packed position," he said. "We've talked a lot about the emotions through the season and playoffs and how much of a roller-coaster it can be. And in that position, even more. He always seems to just be calm, cool, collected." Skinner backstopped Edmonton to series victories over the Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars to help the Oilers reach their second straight final. Advertisement "Stu's been in a lot of high-pressure games," Knoblauch said. "You look at the amount of elimination games he's played in — I think there were six last year — and every single game he played in were really solid, if not spectacular, performances. "When the season's on the line, we have a lot of confidence in him." This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 17, 2025. Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press
Yahoo
18 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Tkachuk, Barkov and Reinhart play through significant injuries to help Panthers win Stanley Cup
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Some top Florida Panthers players gutted through significant injuries to help them repeat as Stanley Cup champions, most notably Matthew Tkachuk dealing with a sports hernia and torn adductor muscle on the same side. 'He was a mess," coach Paul Maurice said. "That's the medical term: He was a mess.' Advertisement Maurice said Aleksander Barkov's point production in the final was affected by one of the captain's hands being cut open and that Sam Reinhart returned from a Grade 2 MCL sprain in the Eastern Conference final. 'In Game 1, Sasha split the palm of his hand open,' Maurice said. "He had those sutures torn out twice 'til he just glued it together." Reinhart came back to score four goals in the clinching Game 6 against Edmonton. No player has done that since Maurice 'Rocket Richard' in 1957. Tkachuk scored what turned out to be the Cup-winning goal, four months after getting injured playing for the U.S. in the 4 Nations Face-Off. He missed the second half of the regular season. Advertisement 'I was really not hopeful at the start that he would survive the first round,' Maurice said. 'We just didn't think he could do it.' Smiling ear to ear on the ice after hoisting the Cup, Tkachuk beamed about the medical treatment that made him able to play. 'I wouldn't be here without the trainers and the doctors and those people, and that's what makes this Cup more special for me is how hard it was just to be out there and to get to the point of playing,' Tkachuk said. 'I owe — this Cup is because of them for me. I'm so lucky.' Perry comes up short Corey Perry became the first player in NHL history to lose in the final five times in six years with four different teams. Perry was also with the Oilers last year and before that lost in 2022 with Tampa Bay, 2021 with Montreal and 2020 with Dallas. Advertisement Had Edmonton won, Perry would have broken the record for the longest gap between Cup championships. He won it with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007. Cup handout surprise Barkov did not hand the Stanley Cup to a longtime teammate like Aaron Ekblad or Sergei Bobrovsky. It went to newcomer and third-pairing defenseman Nate Schmidt, who won it for the first time in his career. 'He just looked at me and he gave me the 'Cap' death stare,' Schmidt said. 'You don't turn those eyes away. No, I didn't know. It was awesome.' Schmidt then handed it to Seth Jones, who gave it to Tomas Nosek to Vitek Vanecek to A.J. Greer and on to all the other players who hadn't hoisted the Cup before. Jones, a trade acquisition from Chicago late in the season, later celebrated on the ice with his father, retired NBA player Popeye Jones. Advertisement '(Barkov) looked me and he said, 'Hey, the guys that haven't done it before, we're going to take a back seat to you guys,'' Schmidt said. "It means a lot.' Dynasty talks There are a few teams that people point to when the word dynasty comes up. Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls. The Tom Brady-led New England Patriots. After successfully defending their title, should this Panthers team be added to that list? 'Hell yeah,' Matthew Tkachuk said. 'Absolutely.' The dynasty talk started before the series even began, when it became clear that the Florida Panthers would play in their third straight Stanley Cup Final. They've played more hockey games than any other team in the NHL over the past three years, which obviously means they've done a lot of winning. ___ AP NHL playoffs: and Stephen Whyno And Alanis Thames, The Associated Press