With Matthew Tkachuk and Brady Tkachuk both out due to long-term injuries, the two brothers decided to make the most of their free time: by starting a podcast.
Wingmen with Matthew and Brady Tkachuk will be a weekly podcast that features “two brothers, one mic, absolutely no filter.” New episodes featuring the Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators forwards will be released every Wednesday.
The podcast immediately positions itself as hockey’s version of “New Heights,” the podcast started by the NFL’s most famous brothers, Travis & Jason Kelce. The Tkachuk’s podcast will be produced by the same company, Wave Sports + Entertainment.
In a preview clip, which first debuted on ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday, the two Tkachuk brothers discuss a range of topics from opposite-hand butt wiping to goalie fights.
The idea of a podcast, or something similar, was first presented to the brothers this past spring.
“I would say it was right before playoffs when we were offered kinda something along the lines of a podcast,” Matthew Tkachuk explained to McAfee. “And both of us are in playoffs. ‘We’ll talk to you down the road and we’ll figure it out.’ It started to slowly pick up a little bit of steam in the summer after winning. I don’t know, it kinda happened really quickly, and finally it’s actually happening. It’s super exciting. Our first episode drops tomorrow, on November 13, but throughout the NHL season, it’ll be on Wednesdays. We’re just super excited. We FaceTime pretty much daily, weekly. Now we’re getting paid to do it once a week. Are you kidding me? So it’s pretty exciting, and I’m just super excited to grow the game.
“Our dad always said, ‘You better leave the game in a better place than when you got here.’ I mean, there were a few f-bombs obviously thrown in there. But this is our best way of doing it. We feel like we’re the luckiest guys in hockey. We’re being given a golden ticket right now. I don’t know why they chose us to do it, but we’re so excited.”
During the interview, Matthew also spoke about his recovery from surgery to repair a torn adductor muscle and sports hernia injury. He has not suited up in a game this season, but is expected back sometime in December.
“I feel really good right now, on track, if not better, for my return here. I don’t want to say we have a solid date, but we have a two-week period to be back playing by,” he said. “I’m recovering, feeling better than ever, excited to get back on the ice with the boys. I miss it so much.”
Meanwhile, Brady Tkachuk has only played three games this season due to a torn right thumb ligament. Brady suffered the injury while absorbing a cross-check from Roman Josi on October 13. He went under the knife three days later and remains out of the lineup.
The podcast comes after the Tkachuk brothers rose to prominence after sparking three fights in the first nine seconds of the USA-Canada 4 Nations Face-Off game in February. They then appeared on an episode of New Heights weeks later.
How successful the Tkachuk brothers’ podcast can be and if it can push hockey more into popular culture remains to be seen. While football players generally are more open, hockey players — and hockey culture at large — seem to punish self-expression. The Tkachuk brothers, meanwhile, do not have the same following as the Kelces, and neither benefit from a huge bump in interest due to Taylor Swift.
Matthew Tkachuk has also drawn the ire of some in the hockey fandom due to his participation in President Trump’s transphobic Fitness Council.
“Obviously, you’re always skeptical about current players and their level of candor on a show like this,” ESPN contributor Greg Wyshynski wrote on X. “But Brady actually doesn’t have a filter and Matt knows his way around provocation.
“I’m intrigued. I just hope it’s not overproduced or coached. Turn the mics on, let’em cook.”
We shall see if the resulting meal is delicious or cringe.
