Brady Tkachuk’s ice-cold reaction to Ottawa boos makes homecoming even uglier!

Brady Tkachuk got a taste of how deeply Ottawa fans feel betrayed by his departure, and the reception was every bit as hostile as anyone could have expected.

During Wednesday night’s game against the Florida Panthers, the Senators organization put together a tribute video for its former captain during the first TV timeout. Instead of a warm welcome for the player who once led their team, fans inside the Canadian Tire Centre made their feelings crystal clear.

Tkachuk was ruthlessly booed as the tribute played, turning what could have been an emotional homecoming into an unmistakable display of animosity. Yet the Florida forward wasn’t about to let the crowd have the final word.

After the video, Tkachuk still took a victory lap, skated to centre ice, and saluted the fans, a smirk on his face as the boos continued to rain down. The moment only added another layer to an already bitter reunion between the former captain and the fan base that once embraced him.

Some of his former teammates on the Senators bench tapped their sticks in recognition of their old captain, offering a reminder that his departure hasn’t erased every bond he built in Ottawa.

But the crowd’s reaction told a very different story. The boos started before puck drop, and ugly chants were heard during the national anthems.

The hostility didn’t stop there, either. After Tkachuk scored on the power play, the Ottawa crowd made sure he heard the boos all over again, proving that even finding the back of the net wasn’t going to win him any goodwill on his first night back. Once again, Tkachuk simply shrugged, almost telling the fans “I told you so.”

While the Senators tied things up on the power-play moments later, it did not even out the animosity and there was a scrum behind Linus Ullmark's net and, you know it, Brady (and Matthew) Tkachuk got involved.

Tkachuk’s first game back in Ottawa has become a hostile homecoming, with the boos making it clear that his decision to seek a trade to Florida this summer still stings.