NHL All-Star Game features Tkachuk brothers finally on the same team

NHL ALL-STAR GAMESaturday, 3 p.m., FLA Life Arena, SunriseTV: ABC

FORT LAUDERDALE — After countless years of competing against each other, Brady and Matthew Tkachuk finally will be teammates at Saturday's NHL All-Star Game (3 p.m., ABC).

“It’s going to be fun,” Florida Panthers star and older brother Matthew said. “I feel bad for whoever the third guy who is going to play with us, but it is probably going to be [Panthers captain] Aleksander Barkov and we wouldn’t want to play with anybody else.”

The two brothers have engaged with each other in on- and off-ice activities throughout their lives, but this will be the first time they will be able to play on the same team in a competitive environment.

Brady, captain of the Ottawa Senators, is a year and a half younger than Matthew and always played a level below his brother.

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The 23-year-old followed in his brother’s footsteps as he progressed through his young career and tried to beat his brother at anything he could.

“He was kind of what you see now. He just dominated and had that little aggression that you see in his game that everyone likes,” Brady said. “I think just to survive in our matchups just to give myself a chance was what I needed to do. I needed to get dirty at times, but he just kind of beat me in everything growing up until I got to a certain age.”

Brady credits his battles with his brother for honing the competitive edge that the 6-foot-4, 221-pound winger plays with to this day.

And while Matthew did not let Brady win, he was no bully. He did what he could to help his brother grow as they began their early hockey careers.

“We were competing against each other in everything you can think of and I was lucky for myself that we were two young boys so close in age competing against each other and I think that made us both better,” Matthew said. “It’s so special to be up here with him and I am so proud of him.”

The two brothers grew up around various NHL locker rooms as their dad, Keith, was making his mark on the league as one of the greatest American players of all time.

Keith laid the groundwork for his sons to become NHL All-Stars while putting up the third-most goals (538) and sixth-most points (1,065) by an American-born (Melrose, Massachusetts) player.

“You had two siblings that were that close in age that did everything together,” Keith told The Palm Beach Post in October. “I think that certainly helped moving forward as they were growing up. They always had each other and they always wanted to beat each other at whatever sport they played. I think it molded them. The two things I always tell them that I think are important in the game of hockey is that their job is to compete and to be good teammates and they certainly do both of those things well.”

After years of learning from their dad and each other, Matthew and Brady have followed in their dad's footsteps and have become premier power forwards in the NHL.

Matthew is a two-time All-Star who has 177 goals and 448 points and currently sits in sixth place (66 points) in his first season with the Panthers. Brady has 110 goals and 243 points in 327 games.

And they both credit their dad — and their countless competitions against each other — for getting them where they are now.

“It’s huge,” Brady said. “We are still using him as a resource to this day of how our game was — positive or negative — and what we can do to improve and kind of get that different perspective. Hearing his perspective on things is eye-opening and we are lucky to have him.”

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Brady and Matthew Tkachuk will be on same team at NHL All-Star Game