- Keith Tkachuk opened his Hall of Fame induction speech with a joke about a Tkachuk getting a warm welcome in Toronto
- Cindy Curley, Patrice Bergeron, Carey Price, Pekka Rinne and Brian Burke were enshrined alongside him
- Read below for what Tkachuk and Curley said on stage
Keith Tkachuk had the Hockey Hall of Fame crowd laughing in the first few seconds.
The former Jets, Coyotes and Blues power forward was inducted Monday night in Toronto as part of the Class of 2026, and he opened his speech with a shot at his own family’s reputation in the city. His sons Matthew and Brady both play for the Florida Panthers.
Tkachuk started by joking about the reception waiting for him in Toronto.
“Wow, this might be the first time a Tkachuk has ever received a warm welcome in Toronto.”
He came back to the line at the end of a 10-minute speech. Jeremy Roenick, a 2024 inductee and Tkachuk’s Olympic teammate, presented him with his plaque.
Tkachuk spent most of his time thanking people. He pointed to Jack Parker, his coach at Boston University, who was in the crowd, along with BU teammates Tony Amonte, Scott Lachance and Shawn McEachern. He also thanked Joe Yannetti, the Winnipeg scout who stuck with him after he broke his ankle in his draft year and helped the Jets take him 19th overall in 1990.
Tkachuk also went after former Blues executive Larry Pleau, who traded for him, traded him to Atlanta and then brought him back. He said Pleau was probably “trying to move me as we speak.”
The family part of the speech got emotional. Tkachuk talked about his parents, his wife Chantel and his three kids, and Matthew had tears in his eyes while his dad honored them. Brady and his sister Taryn were in the building too.
Watch the Bruins’ post on the man the night was built around, Patrice Bergeron:
Bergeron went in with Tkachuk, Price, Rinne, Curley and Brian Burke in the Builder category. We covered Bergeron getting his blazer from Ray Bourque, Rinne’s long road from the eighth round and Price naming Ovechkin as the toughest player he faced earlier in the week.
Curley got her own big moment. She is the sixth American woman and 15th woman overall in the Hall, and Cammi Granato presented her. Curley told the crowd she doesn’t think of herself as a pioneer, only as someone who grew up with women’s hockey.
She also thanked Lou Lamoriello, who ran Providence College when she played there, and said she plans to keep playing with her Stick Chicks pond hockey group on Lake Boon.
A big Boston group showed up for Bergeron, including Bourque, Brad Marchand and Zdeno Chara, along with current Bruins David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy. Check out the Bruins’ photo of that Hall of Fame bond:
Tkachuk closed by thanking the sport itself. “I accept this honor with gratitude to everyone who has been a part of my journey,” he said.
