There’s a photo of two Panthers players standing shoulder to shoulder, sticks in hand, and it tells you everything about why South Florida hockey is on a tear. Matthew Tkachuk and his brother Brady now play for the same team, and the story of how that happened is the best example of goal-setting I’ve seen all season.
Matthew joined the Panthers four years ago, at 24. He’s 28 now, entering his 11th NHL season, and he’s become as recognizable around Fort Lauderdale as he is at Amerant Bank Arena. The short answer on why the Tkachuk brothers matter to this city: they arrived hungry, won the big one, stayed, and now the whole town is better for it.
Goal one: win the Stanley Cup
Matthew arrived in August 2022 and helped propel the team to the Stanley Cup Final in his first season. He stayed in town celebrating until early July. By then, he’d reached a firm conclusion with his now-wife, Ellie.
“I remember looking at her and being like, ‘I never want to leave this place. This is where I want to be forever.’ This is as good as it gets,” he says.
That’s the first lesson. Commit to the place, not just the result. He wanted to keep being the leader on the ice and “drag guys along into the fight.” This year, that mission comes with an extraordinary addition: his younger brother Brady is now wearing a Panthers sweater, too.
Goal two: win Olympic gold
The brothers have represented the United States together at the 4 Nations Face-Off and at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. At the Olympics, winning gold produced a moment Brady says he expects to remember decades from now.
“We made eye contact like, ‘Holy cow, we’re both gold medalists.’ I will never forget that hug,” Brady says.
Matthew treasures that Olympic triumph, but another shared dream remains. The brothers have imagined winning the Stanley Cup together since childhood — right down to one handing the trophy to the other.
“That would be the greatest thing that’s ever happened to us,” Matthew says. “Olympic gold so far in our careers, for a memory together, is pretty hard to beat, but hopefully the Stanley Cup can top that.”
Goal three: build a town that plays
Here’s the part most highlight reels skip. Matthew’s South Florida footprint stretches well beyond restaurants and hockey hardware. He visits local hospitals, supports fan initiatives, and recently teamed with Baptist Health for a Labor Day weekend hockey tournament at the Baptist Health IcePlex.
“When I first got traded here, obviously the number one goal was to win a Stanley Cup, but the number two goal, just behind that, was to see the game of hockey grow and be in a better place than when I got here,” he says. “It’s really been cool to see it continue to get better every year.”
Brady enters South Florida ready to contribute while learning the rhythms of a championship organization. He also plans to identify local causes after previously working with the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa and a children’s hospital.
“It’s our job and we love to play hockey, but it’s the opportunity to be a role model for the next generation of kids who look up to you,” Brady says. “That’s something that is really important to me and high on the list to do.”
The Science, Simplified
The Science, Simplified: The Tkachuks didn’t set one goal and sprint. They stacked three — win the Cup, win Olympic gold, and grow the game in a new city — and pursued all of them at once. That’s exactly how I tell clients to build a program: a big goal (strength), a mid-range goal (a meet or a race), and a daily goal (show up, be a good teammate). Do the stacking, and one win keeps feeding the next.
Matthew hopes residents ultimately think of him as someone who cares — whether they see him play at the arena, meet him at a fan fest, or spot him grabbing a coffee. His objective is to help make the Panthers a team South Florida loves and the region “the best sports town in the country.”
Brady’s arrival adds another Tkachuk to that pursuit. For the two of them, it’s the chance to accomplish their grandest shared dream — and for the rest of us, it’s proof that a well-stacked goal list works better than a single wish on a whiteboard. Pick your three goals, write them down, and run them in parallel this week.
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