Tkachuk Brothers Recall Smuggling Beer Past Security as Key Bonding Moment for 2026 US Olympic Hockey Champs

Matthew Tkachuk of the Florida Panthers and Brady Tkachuk of the Ottawa Senators, both members of the gold-medal-winning 2026 U.S. men's Olympic hockey team, pointed to a beer-smuggling escapade as the moment they realized the squad was special.

The brothers shared the story on their 'Wingmen' podcast with guest Shane O'Brien, a former NHL player. O'Brien, a Canadian, praised the Americans for staying in the Olympic Village, and Matthew said it fostered team bonding.

The incident began after a team dinner when players planned to hit a bar. The bar closed as they arrived, so they bought beers to take back. Most came in brown paper bags, but Buffalo Sabres star Tage Thompson carried a full case on his shoulder.

'All of a sudden, Tage just has a case on his shoulder,' Brady Tkachuk said. '(We) walk right through the security, (he) sets it down like on the X-ray machine, and like we're like, 'What is going on right now?''

Security said nothing as Thompson strolled through with the case, which Brady compared to carrying a boombox. 'This is what I knew we had a tight group when we were going through that,' Brady said. 'It was that was a blast.'

Matthew agreed. 'So yeah, I knew once Tage did that we had a very good chance of winning it,' the Panthers forward said. 'I'm like, 'Oh f--k, everything's working right for us right now, fellas.'''