Some things are bigger than sports.
You've probably heard that adage a million times, but it's worth repeating after Wednesday night.
TheFlorida Panthersare in a fight for their playoff lives, and every single point from here until the end of the season counts.
With that in mind, the Cats take on the Columbus Blue Jackets Thursday night in central Ohio, but star forward and lightning rod Matthew Tkachuk's mind and heart were in another place just 24 hours before the tilt.
With his team clawing to get back into a rapidly shrinking playoff window, Tkachuk took some time to visit the family of his late former teammate, Johnny Gaudreau, even playing with Gaudreau's daughter, Noa.
For those who aren't aware, Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew,were killed back in August 2024by a drunk driver while they were out for an evening bike ride.
This picture shouldn't come as a shock to anyone who knows how close Tkachuk and Gaudreau were, between their time together in Calgary and coming up through the USA Hockey ranks around the same time.
Chucky and Johnny Hockey'sunbreakable bondeven gave us one of the most heartwarming photos of the Winter Olympics, when Tkachuk skated Noa around the ice after he and Team USA had won gold.
Despite all of this, I am still seeing plenty of people denigrating Tkachuk as a "pedophile" or someone who "doesn't have morals" because he chose to visit the White House and said some nice things about President Trump.
These people are sick in the head, I'm convinced of it.
Source: The Latest & Most Breaking News With OutKick
