Brady Tkachuk and the Blackhawks rookie who called him out

Gino Hard just flagged a heated moment between Panthers star Brady Tkachuk and the Blackhawks tonight, with Dillon Boucher having words for him.

Florida beat Chicago 5-3 tonight, but the talk afterward isn't about the score. It's about a scrum, and about a player who has built a career on never backing down from anybody.

Hard noted that Tkachuk and Ethan Del Mastro were getting into it before Boucher had some words for Brady.

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Here is the angle that has people talking. Boucher is a 29-year-old with no NHL games played, and he invited Tkachuk to fight. Tkachuk acted as if he didn't hear it and turned the invitation down.

Tkachuk has not responded to the call.

Why Tkachuk's silence is getting noticed

Tkachuk's name has been synonymous with toughness for years. He has 838 penalty minutes over 587 NHL games, and he had 17 PIM through 15 games this season before tonight.

That's why a no from him lands differently than it would from almost anyone else. When a player with that résumé declines, people notice, and the replays get argued over for days.

The opening part of the exchange involved Del Mastro, a 6'4 defenseman with 6 games played, no points and a -5 rating this season before tonight. Tkachuk was reportedly the one getting into it with him first. Then a guy with no NHL games to his name asks for a fight and gets ignored. That's a rough look for a player who sells himself as the one nobody can push around.

Tkachuk's family was already in the headlines this week, too, with Matthew Tkachuk calling out the Senators over their sellout claim. Add another storyline to the pile.

The context matters for Chicago. The Blackhawks came in at 4-10-1, 31st in the NHL, and 0-5-1 on the road. A scrum is about the only thing they got out of this one that wasn't a loss.

Florida was 8-5-2 before tonight. The Panthers play at Washington on Saturday, and Chicago is at Tampa Bay on Thursday. Whether Tkachuk answers any of this before then is the part to watch.

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