It's A New Season, But Drew Doughty And Matthew Tkachuk Still Hate Each Other

There’s only room for one Alpha Dickhead in the Pacific Division, and Drew Doughty and Matthew Tkachuk have now spent years trying to stake their claim at the top.

The two have been getting physical with each other since 2017, when the rookie Tkachuk drew a two-game suspension for elbowing the Kings’ veteran defenseman in the face. They’ve had on-ice spats with each other on a few other occasions, including a big slash and some instigation from Doughty last season, but the most entertaining part of their battle has been waged through the press.

When Doughty called him a dirty player after that elbow, Tkachuk responded, “I expected more from him, honestly, than to go right to the media and start complaining after a loss.” Since then, Doughty has agreed that Tkachuk might be the most hated player in the league, and last season, when asked if the rivalry between the two was healthy, he responded, “Oh no. No respect for him, none. I respect everyone else. I’ll never talk to him off the ice.”

Before their first match-up of the 2019–20 season, the shots were more passive-aggressive. When asked on Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada if he should show respect to Doughty as a former Norris Trophy winner, Tkachuk coyly replied with a reference to teammate Mark Giordano: “I show Gio respect. He’s a Norris Trophy winner.”

And on Monday, after deflecting question after question about Tkachuk, Doughty responded to a comment that the rivalry would end if one of them just said something nice about the other.

“I think we both know who the better player is,” Doughty remarked. “If he wants to compliment me first, then I’ll give him one back.”

It was both guys who deserve compliments for the way they played on Tuesday, but Doughty got the last laugh—and the last crotch chop. Tkachuk scored a pair of goals and tallied an assist for the Flames—including the game-tying goal with a minute to go in the third. But in overtime, Doughty found the net for the winner, and he celebrated by loudly inviting Calgary fans to suck his dick.

And on the other angle, you can see he added just a dash of D-Generation X.

Having skated off the ice victorious in this round, his hand cupped to his ear to further taunt the crowd, Doughty had no difficulty playing the role of the bigger man and trying to end his grudge against Tkachuk in the post game.

“As you can see we both thrive under emotional games,” he said. “I think he had three points. I think I had three points. I want to put that to rest. He’s going to run me. That’s his job. He’s going to hit me many times a game. I’m just going to not talk back and just let it kind of be.”

Yeah, right. The Kings host the Flames in 10 days, and as Tkachuk said after the game, “I’m excited for Round 2.”