Hall Call: After 13-year wait, former Coyotes captain Keith Tkachuk inducted into Hockey Hall of Fame
by Riley Kelton, Cronkite News
November 10, 2026
TORONTO – Keith Tkachuk never gave much thought to having to wait for the ultimate honor bestowed upon NHL players: induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
“At the end of the day, whether you get in the first year, the fourth year, or whatever year, I got it in, it really doesn’t matter,” Tkachuk said. “It was great to get that call.”
On Monday night the first captain in Coyotes history added to his wardrobe as well. Tkachuk was one of six members enshrined into the Hall, joining Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron, Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price, Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne, Team USA member Cindy Curley and longtime NHL executive Brian Burke .
“Walking in here today it really sinks in,” said Tkachuk, who got a navy blue blazer with the Hall of Fame crest to mark the occasion. “This game has given me everything. Looking at all this, and seeing all the names up here, and now I’m a part of it.”
With 538 goals, 1,065 points, 2,219 penalty minutes, five All-Star selections and four Olympic appearances with Team USA, the long wait finally ended for Tkachuk. His goal total ranks 35th in the NHL’s 108-year history, and eclipsing the 500 threshold was a major reason voters couldn’t deny him any longer.
“I’ve been talking about it for years that I’ve wanted to see him recognized just for his accomplishments,” former Montreal Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban said. “I just think he stands for what U.S.-born hockey players want to aspire to accomplish.”
On the ice, Tkachuk was known as a physical, hard-nosed forward who wasn't scared to mix it up. A monster in front of the net, Tkachuk finished his career with the fifth-highest goal total by an American player.
But those around him know his legacy stretches far beyond his accomplishments on the ice.
“He is a community guy, he’s a family guy, he cares about people,” Subban said. “Being able to connect with him just over my short time being retired has been really, really cool – to get to know him on a more personal level and at a different time in his life.”
On Tkachuk’s road trips with the Coyotes to Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver, he befriended two men known as Smokin’ Joe and Red – two guys that were in a tough season of their lives.
“Keith would buy them a hotel room, they’d have a shave and they’d have something to eat and then they were our door security for our dressing room for games in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver,” former Coyotes captain Shane Doan said. “They’d sit outside the room during games and guard the rooms, make sure the rooms were secure.”
At the end of the trip, Tkachuk and his teammates would pitch in to give Smokin’ Joe and Red cash. Nothing they had to do, but something they chose to do.
Those qualities and virtues aren’t something Tkachuk developed on skates. They stem from the lessons he learned growing up and the people that helped shape him up along the way.
“I think it’s how you grow up with your parents,” Tkachuk said. “Respecting people and helping people when they are down and out.”
Regardless of who it was or what role they had, Tkachuk’s philosophy remained the same: help those around you whenever possible.
“Whether it’s a teammate or a trainer, just being thankful for the position you’re in,” Tkachuk said. “I was very thankful and I wanted to help out others and guys before me taught me that, my parents taught me that and it's the way I grew up.”
He has passed those lessons on to his family.
A father of two current NHL players, forwards Matthew and Brady Tkachuk of the Florida Panthers, Tkachuk will watch his sons try to reach the summit on which he now stands.
“Watching both boys play this great game, first with USA Hockey and now the Florida Panthers, has been a thrill of a lifetime,” Tkachuk said in his induction speech on Monday. “Seeing you raise your families with your wives, Ellie and Emma, and watching our grandchildren, Ryder, Millie and Lyla, grow is a blessing beyond words.”
Along with grandfather duties, Tkachuk is now an advisor to the president of hockey operations for the St. Louis Blues, where he spent the final nine seasons of his NHL career.
“He was a brilliant hockey player, someone that played the game extremely hard and extremely tough,” said former Blues assistant GM and Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong, who is now GM of the Utah Mammoth. “I got a chance to work with him, and he was a brilliant hockey man off the ice, too.
“That was a huge thing for him. I think he’s the full package to be honest, and he deserves to go in the Hall of Fame.”
The recognition represents more than a career filled with goals, points and accolades for Tkachuk. His name might be the one on the plaque, but he said it’s a reflection of his many influences along the way.
“It’s not just me, it’s the people that have gotten me here,” he said. “That’s more important to me than me being here. My parents doing everything possible, my wife, my family, my brother, coaches, teammates, everything.
“It’s for them.”
This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
