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Brady and Matthew Tkachuk celebrate after winning the gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics
Brady and Matthew Tkachuk can both be described as NHL veterans, but those aren’t the people being celebrated on the annual holiday dedicated to the Americans who’ve enlisted in our country’s military. As a result, they managed to rile plenty of people up with a fairly egocentric post that popped up on Veterans Day.
The United States has celebrated Veterans Day since it was made a federal holiday in 1954. It was originally known as Armistice Day, as the 11th day of November marked the end of World War I in 1918, but it has been used to honor every person who’s served in America’s armed forces for more than 70 years.
People around the country flood social media with tributes to soldiers who fought and served for their country whenever Veterans Day rolls around, and an account for the podcast that Brady and Matthew Tkachuk host together decided to get in on the action this year.
However, it’s safe to say the post in question missed the mark.
The Tkachuk brothers riled up fans with a Veterans Day post that revolved around the gold medal they won at the Winter Olympics
Brady and Matthew Tkachuk are currently teammates on the Panthers after the latter forced a trade ahead of the current NHL season, but the siblings got the chance to join forces earlier this year in Italy as part of the American team that secured a gold medal at the Winter Olympics for the first time since the squad responsible for the “Miracle on Ice” won in 1980.
It’s also been a year since the duo teamed up to launch the Wingmen podcast, and on Wednesday, the show’s social media accounts attempted to celebrate Veterans Day in a post featuring some pictures of the brothers celebrating in the wake of Team USA’s overtime win over Canada with the caption “Shoutout to the veterans who make moments like this possible.”
Shoutout to the veterans who make moments like this possible 👏🥇🇺🇸 https://t.co/g5pMUaAAlz
— Wingmen with Matthew and Brady Tkachuk (@Wingmenpod) November 11, 2026
However, it did not go over well with many fans who viewed it as borderline stolen valor, as plenty of people hopped into the comments to accuse the Tkachucks of making Veterans Day about themselves and hijacking a holiday where the focus should be on the people who served.
Brady and Matthew were already some of the most polarizing players in the NHL, and that’s certainly not going to help their reputation.