Keith Tkachuk

Lore & Background

Drafted as the 19th overall pick by Winnipeg in 1990, he made the team at the tail end of the season, recording eight points in 17 games. The following year, in his first full season with the team, he recorded the first of twelve consecutive 20-goal seasons and quickly became among the elite power forwards of his era. He recorded consecutive 50-goal seasons, doing so with Winnipeg in the season and Phoenix in the season, with the latter seeing him lead the NHL in goals scored, becoming the first American to lead the NHL in goal-scoring. He was traded from the Coyotes to the Blues late in the season, where he would play as a mainstay for nine of the next ten years. In 2008, he scored his 500th goal to become the 41st player with 500 goals in NHL history and fourth American to do so and subsequently recorded his 1,000th point to become the sixth American to reach the milestone. He retired in 2010; from 1991 to 2010, Tkachuk was one of eight players to score 500 goals. A tough forward who recorded over 100 penalty minutes in ten of his eighteen seasons, Tkachuk is one of three players to have recorded both 500 goals and 2,000 penalty minutes in NHL history. Considered one of the best American-born players to play in the league, he represented the United States for various international competitions, which saw them win the World Cup of Hockey in 1996 and a silver medal in the 2002 Winter Olympics. In 2011, he was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame; he was subsequently honored with induction into the Coyotes Ring of Honor and the Blues Hall of Fame. Tkachuk is set to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2026. He is the father of Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, who both play for the Florida Panthers.

Reader's Guide

Tkachuk is of Ukrainian and Irish heritage. He was born at the Melrose/Wakefield Hospital in Melrose, Massachusetts as the son of Gerry and John Tkachuk, a Boston firefighter who settled the family down in Medford, Massachusetts. He played high school hockey at Malden Catholic High School in Malden, Massachusetts. Modelling his game after his idol Cam Neely of the Boston Bruins, Tkachuk earned a scholarship for collegiate hockey at Boston University, where he notched 40 points (17 goals, 23 assists) while being named to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team in his one season with the team. The Terriers made it all the way to the 1991 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament championship game, losing to Northern Michigan 8–7 in triple overtime. He was a member of the United States national junior team in 1991 and 1992. Due to not having played in the NHL at the time of the 1992 Olympic competition for hockey, Tkachuk was eligible to play for Team USA, which he ended up making the team despite considering himself a longshot in tryouts. He was drafted in the first round as the 19th overall pick in the 1990 NHL entry draft by the Winnipeg Jets, who had acquired the pick from the Buffalo Sabres in the deal that sent Dale Hawerchuk to Buffalo. Tkachuk played as a center, left winger and right winger in his career. Tkachuk has earned the nickname 'Walt' (given to him by Eddie Olczyk), possibly in reference to Walter Tkaczuk, a star center who played for the New York Rangers from 1967 to 1981. The two players' last names are pronounced similarly but spelled differently (being the Polish and English transliterations, respectively, of the Ukrainian 'Ткачук'), and the two men are not related to each other. With his strong play in front of the net, using his size and strength to battle opposing defensemen, St. Louis Blues broadcasters and fans dubbed Tkachuk 'Big Walt.'

Did You Know?

• Tkachuk was the first player in league history to lead the league in scoring and have over 200 penalty minutes in the same season.
• He appeared on the front cover of the video game NHL Breakaway '98.