In a recent chat with The Athletic, writer Josh Yohe talked to Matthew Tkachuk about how much he admires Sidney Crosby, who plays for the Panthers.
This conversation happened before the 4 Nations Faceoff, where the USA faced Canada in the championship game. A lot has happened since that time.
For starters, there were some exciting moments in the finals last year between Canada and the USA, including three fights, which just added to the intensity of any future games between these two teams.
Recently, The Hockey News asked Tkachuk if he could get under Sidney Crosby’s skin using his usual sneaky tactics.
“Sidney Crosby has three championships. You can’t really mess with him. He’s been successful at every level of hockey.
We want to achieve what he has. This group of 25 players has a chance to achieve something similar to what he has. You can’t play mind games with him.
I think he’s right about that. Crosby is a true leader.
I interviewed Tkachuk at length in September of ‘24. He made it quite clear that his respect for Crosby is such that he’d never take a run at him.
This was pre-4 Nations. He foreshadowed how nasty USA/Canada was about to get but said Sid would never be targeted. https://t.co/QnSzETBA58— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_PGH) February 21, 2026
Tkachuk’s response was different from his usual playful banter. If you ask any NHL fan, especially those who cheer for the Oilers, they know that Matthew Tkachuk enjoys stirring the pot.
He stirred things up with Draisaitl before the Germany-US Olympic match, as reported by Liam McCormick from Edmonton Hockey Daily on February 15.
Just five days later, he was at it again with Crosby and Canada, but this time he mixed his playful comments with compliments.
We don’t know yet if Crosby will play in the Gold Medal match against the US tomorrow.
What we do know is Tkachuk will still be his usual fiery self, playing hard and trying to challenge Canada’s top players.
If you think the US would never play dirty, just remember the 4 Nations game, and you’ll see plenty of proof.
In the end, Canada won the match and took home the trophy, while Matthew. . . well, he didn’t win.
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