Matthew Tkachuk spent most of his afternoon Friday on the ice in Fort Lauderdale preparing for the Florida Panthers game against his former Calgary Flames in a, well, different way.
Clad in his full game uniform, Tkachuk skated around the ice as fog rolled in from machines placed up in the stands of the IcePlex.
Tkachuk and the Panthers had the day off — but he was there for hours filming a commercial.
The Flames, meanwhile, held a practice at Florida’s former training facility in Coral Springs.
Hey, to each their own.
No One Covers the Florida Panthers Like FHN
The Panthers took a deserved day off after playing four games in six days.
After losing 2-1 to the visiting Flyers on Thursday, should be motivated this afternoon when the Flames visit Sunrise at 4.
There is no shortage of storylines here: Not only will Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar play in their second game in Sunrise following the blockbuster 2022 trade which brought Tkachuk to Sunrise, but this is the first game out of the NHL Trade Deadline.
Calgary was thought to be major sellers at the deadline and, while they did unload pending free agent defenseman Noah Hanifin, the Flames are back — and they are mostly intact.
Former Florida goalie Jacob Markstrom was thought to be on the move, but he will be in net for the Flames today against the Panthers.
Sergei Bobrovsky is expected to start for Florida.
Calgary is 3-0 against the Panthers since ‘The Trade,’ and has won six of its past seven — including a 6-3 win over the Lightning on Thursday.
Today will also be a big day for Aaron Ekblad.
He will pass Huberdeau for second place on the franchise list for games played.
Speaking of the Trade Deadline, Florida is expected to have Kyle Okposo available but the now-former Buffalo captain is not expected to play since the Panthers did not hold a morning skate following Friday’s trade.
Okposo will wear No. 8 with the Panthers after wearing No. 21 both with the Islanders and Sabres.
More must-reads: