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It’s all about Big Walt today.
Many thoughts to share …
— Congrats to Keith Tkachuk for his selection to the Hockey Hall of Fame. It was well deserved and worth the long wait …
— Tkachuk defined the power forward archetype for his era as a massive physical presence who competed with authority in the crease, took the hard-edged battle to defensemen, and was a strong finisher at the net. Tkachuk is one of only three players in NHL history to have 500 goals and 2,000 penalty minutes … that’s a lot of bruises. His heavy style isn’t as common in today’s NHL which makes his career even more prominent.
— American legacy: Tkachuk is clearly one of the greatest American-born players to skate in the NHL. Though he’s been retired for 16 years, Big Walt still sits third all-time among American-born players in NHL goals with 538 – trailing only Brett Hull (741) and Mike Modano (561).
— And beyond his NHL stats, Tkachuk’s international resume added to his accomplishments. He was huge on the U.S. team that upset Canada to win the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and captured a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
— The magnitude of that 1996 World Cup championship shouldn’t be forgotten. Tkachuk and the Americans took on an iconic Canadian roster that featured Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Eric Lindros, Steve Yzerman, and Martin Brodeur. Not only did the U.S. prevail, but the Americans won the tournament by beating Canada in Montreal. This was a seismic shift in the hockey landscape that raised the reputation and respect level of U.S. born players. It’s easy to forget now, but in those days Canada looked down on U.S. talent, but after the ‘96 stunner that was no longer the case. Once and for all, that victory legitimized USA hockey as a growing force in the sport.
— The momentous triumph established a generation of American stars: Brett Hull, Mike Modano, Tkachuk, Brian Leetch, Mike Richter – and others that had been around a while including Pat LaFontaine, Chris Chelios, John LeClair.
— So when oddly embittered critics bark about Tkachuk getting into the Hall of Fame – maligning him because “he never won a trophy” – they have a big hole in their memories. The 1996 World Cup championship was a high-pressure, high-stakes event that was incredibly important at the time. And the USA conquest had the hockey establishment buzzing around the globe.
— During the seven-game tournament run, Tkachuk scored 5 goals, tying him for second on Team USA behind Hull. Big Walt wore down Team Canada with his relentless physicality; his 44 penalty minutes was the most in the tournament.
— Arriving in St. Louis in 2000, Tkachuk played the final eight-plus seasons of his career as a Blue. He still ranks sixth in franchise history in goals (208) and is 14th in points (427). He still works in the front office as The Note’s director of recruitment.
— And without a doubt, part of Tkachuk’s hockey legacy is the NHL stardom of his sons, Matthew and Brady … both of whom were members of the gold-medal winning USA hockey team in the 2026 winter Olympics. The Tkachuk brothers embrace playing villain roles, antagonizing opponents and infuriating “enemy” fan bases around the NHL. But that only adds to their prominence and star power.
—- Tkachuk was left out of the Hall of Fame for a number of reasons, but I keep going back to this: for years and years and years, good (but not great) Canadian players piled up Stanley Cup rings as members of the NHL dynasty teams in 1970s and '80s dynasties. Mostly because of their team association, Canada guys were ushered into the Hall in Toronto – while elite American talents stood on the side, out in the cold, and watched. A good (not great) Canadian player with multiple rings was royalty. But a great American player who carried an entire franchise on his back – without winning a Cup – didn’t get the respect.
— So what’s changed? The Selection Committee has modernized. The review of candidates is a helluva lot more advanced than "Did he win a Cup? Did he win a Cup for a team in Canada?" The absurdity of the bias – and the simplistic evaluation – finally came to an end. The process became fair.
— One of the reasons it came to an end? Canada-based teams haven’t won a Stanley Cup since Montreal in 1993. When Canadian teams were winning everything in the '70s and '80s, it was easy for Canadian voters to weaponize the “Did he win a Cup?” attitude and arrogance. If you were a star on an American-based team that fell short, the old-school guardians of Canada’s national sport could wave off these American regular-season wonders as players who “didn’t have what it takes” to win a Stanley Cup.
— But as Canada’s long, desperate Stanley Cup famine stretched over three-plus decades, that hard-line stance became unsustainable. If you required a Stanley Cup ring to get into the Hall of Fame, this would exclude a huge percentage of the best players of the last 30-plus years. Because some truly great Canada-franchise players like Jarome Iginla in Calgary or Mats Sundin in Toronto – never won rings.
— Oh. Wait a minute. Do I hear murmuring and grumbling? “We have to rethink this, boys. We can’t use the Stanley Cup as the litmus test. Because if we did, we’d be mostly inducting stars from those Cup-winning U.S. teams, and stars from Canada based teams would get the shaft. We can’t do that!”
— The Canada hockey establishment could no longer freeze out the Boston-bred Tkachuk for not winning a Stanley Cup. Because if the committee did that, they’d have to freeze out a large percentage of Canadian players who never played for a Stanley Cup champ. The market reality prevailed.
Thanks for reading …
–Bernie
Bernie was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2023. During a St. Louis sports-media career that goes back to 1985, he’s won multiple national awards for column writing and sports-talk hosting – and was the lead sports columnist at the Post-Dispatch from 1989 through 2015. Before that Bernie spent a year at the Dallas Morning News, covering the Dallas Cowboys during Tom Landry’s final season (1988) plus the sale of the team to Jerry Jones and the hiring of Jimmy Johnson as coach. Bernie has covered several Baseball Hall of Fame managers during his media career including Tony La Russa, Whitey Herzog, Earl Weaver, Joe Torre and (as an interim) Red Schoendienst. In his career as a beatwriter and columnist, Bernie covered Pro Football Hall of Fame coaches Joe Gibbs, Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson and Dick Vermeil on a daily basis.
Bernie has covered and written about many great St. Louis sports team athletes including Albert Pujols, Kurt Warner, Brett Hull, Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright, Jim Edmonds, Marshall Faulk, Scott Rolen, Mark McGwire, Orlando Pace, Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, Al MacInnis, Brian Sutter, Bernie Federko, Chris Pronger, Dan Dierdorf, Jackie Smith and Aeneas Williams. Bernie covered every baseball Cardinals’ postseason game from 1996 through 2014 and was there to chronicle teams that won four NL pennants and two World Series. He provided extensive coverage on the “Greatest Show” St. Louis Rams and has written extensively on the St. Louis Blues, Saint Louis U, and Mizzou football and basketball. Bernie was/is a longtime voter for the Baseball Hall of Fame, Pro Football Hall of Fame, Heisman Trophy and the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame.
You can access his columns, videos and the podcast version of the videos here on STL Sports Central, catch him regularly on KMOX (AM or FM) as part of the Gashouse Gang, Sports Rush Hour, Sports Open Line or Sports On a Sunday Morning shows. And you can catch weekly “reunion” segments here at STL Sports Central featuring Bernie and his longtime friend Randy Karraker.