Matthew Tkachuk and Jimmy Butler are Redefining What It Means to Be Florida Man.
There are guys, and there are playoff guys.
And this season there are the guys standing on top of the shoulders of the playoff guys making them beg for mercy before torching their way to the Stanley Cup Final and NBA Finals: Matthew “Chucky” Tkachuk and Jimmy “Buckets” Butler.
Matthew Tkachuk is a right winger for the Florida Panthers, and Jimmy Butler a forward for the Miami Heat. Both stand on the verge of glory, having willed their #8 seeded teams through three rounds of the playoffs.
Along the way, Tkachuk and Butler are redefining what it means to be Florida Man.
We’ve all seen the headlines; we know the meme. Generally speaking, Florida Man is better known for interesting mishaps than athletic greatness.
Until now if you caught a Florida Man in the headlines it’s more likely to have involved an alligator, Hooters restaurant, or bath salts than a pair of star athletes from the Sunshine State emerging as the alpha dogs of two of the four major sports.
Sure, Tampa Bay did have its “Champa Bay” moment with the Lightning winning back-to-back Stanley Cups and nearly adding a third, and Tom Brady driving down I95 to help the Buccaneers take home a Lombardi trophy. But the “Champa Bay” moment happened during Covid, and Florida didn’t believe in Covid—so they had an unfair advantage (#asterisk).
This is different. Yes, both hockey and basketball are team sports, and the team story is interesting for both the Panthers and Heat.
The Panthers look like a carbon copy of the aforementioned Lightning’s blueprint with a stud Russian goalie in nets (Sergei Bobrovsky = Andrei Vasillevskiy), a hulking defenseman patrolling the blueline (Aaron Ekblad = Victor Hedman), and a game changing centerman (Aleksander Barkov = Brayden Point).
Similarly, much has been said and written about the unique “Heat Culture” guided by the steady hand of Team President Pat Riley and head coach Erik Spoelstra. The Heat have 9 undrafted players on their roster, and you don’t need an X-Ray machine to see the chip on the shoulder of the entire franchise.
That said, the story of the NHL and NBA Playoffs has been the story of two superstars redefining what it means to be Florida Man. Yes, that Florida Man.
Yes, when it comes to the 2023 NHL and NBA Playoffs it’s Matthew Tkachuk and Jimmy Butler that are stirring the drink.
If you’ve yet to jump into the NHL or NBA playoffs, you should do it just for these two guys as both are providing “Gladiator” level entertainment on a nightly basis.
If you’re unfamiliar with the oversized personalities Tkachuk and Butler are, as well as the crater sized dent they’ve left on these playoffs, you’re in luck! Pulltab Sports is here to provide a refresher course to get you up to speed before the Stanley Cup Final and NBA Finals. And our job is easy, because both Tkachuk and Butler, like a true Florida Man—have written their own jaw dropping headlines along their personal journeys:
FLORIDA MAN WEARS MOUTHGUARD FOR ENTIRE NHL CAREER WITHOUT EVER PUTTING IT IN HIS MOUTH.
First and foremost, Matthew Tkachuk is an instigator. He’s precisely the type of player you hate unless he’s on your team. He’s hailed as “the Rat King,” but to dismiss Tkachuk as a rat would be criminal. If Tkachuk was a rat, he’d be the NYC subway rat that somehow carried a slice of pizza back to his rat condo a few years back.
Matthew Tkachuk is a throwback type hockey player. Hockey fans will remember his dad, Keith “Walt” Tkachuk. Matthew is cut from the same mold, a power forward capable of regularly putting up 100 points and 100 penalty minutes—a rarity in today’s double-ply NHL.
Tkachuk has more in common with the old 75th anniversary patch NHLers like Derian Hatcher. He’s a player from a foregone era, capable of singlehandedly changing the game like Dennis Rodman used to do on the hard court. If Rodman had as much talent as Scottie Pippen.
If Matthew Tkachuk doesn’t end up in the hall of fame, his mouthguard certainly will. Never has a piece of molded plastic spurned more rage than Tkachuk’s anyplace-but-my-mouth-guard.
FLORIDA MAN TORTURES TEAMMATES WITH COUNTRY MUSIC. ENDS UP LOVING IT.
Like Tkachuk, Jimmy Butler is also a throwback gamer that has more in common with a street balling bully than the flopping NBA stars of today.
Watching Butler play is like watching a vintage video game of NBA Live – he literally points at guys on the court and tells them where they should be like he’s on the playground. Butler is also the sort of player, who instills real fear in both the opposition and his own teammate because while they may have the dawg in them, Butler’s 23andMe is 100% canine.
Check Jimmy Butler’s social media and you’ll also see he’s a country music fan. You’ll see him mingling with Morgan Wallen. Butler was even featured himself on a country track.
But Butler’s love of country music happened by accident. Turns out Butler first started playing country music in the locker room to torture his teammates. Somewhere along the way the genre grew on Butler, and now he’s a legitimate country music fan. I guess this makes sense, as Butler also famously drove a pickup truck with the rearview mirror removed so he’d never look back.
FLORIDA MAN MINGLES AND DRINKS AMONG GEN-POP AT NHL ALL STAR GAME.
Matthew Tkachuk has always been a star, but his storybook 2023 season elevated at the NHL All Star Game which the Panthers hosted at Sunrise Arena. At the time the Panthers were one of the biggest disappointments in the league and looking like they’d miss the playoffs. Tkachuk went crazy at the All-Star game with 7 points earning MVP of the game.
But this wasn’t the most impressive thing Tkachuk did at All Star Weekend. For anyone in attendance at the All Star game, the NHL hosted it’s big VIP party on Saturday night for sponsors. It was the sort of high-profile soiree where fans hoped the players themselves would attend —knowing that they likely wouldn’t. Except for Matthew Tkachuk. More specifically, the entire Tkachuk family.
You read that right. On the Saturday night before the NHL All Star game, Matthew, his brother Brady who plays for Ottawa, and their NHL vet father Keith all posted up at the free VIP party. The Tkachuk family were fixtures at the bar that night, mixing with the locals and posing for pictures with anyone wearing a lanyard.
You could almost hear the cell phone exchange at Tkachuk family headquarters:
“What should we do tonight?”
“I don’t know. There’s a lot of us in town. Everything seems hard. Why don’t we all just go to that free NHL party and hammer beers and eat some free food.”
“Done and done.”
FLORIDA MAN PROVES HE’S THE ALPHA DOG BY WIPING THE FLOOR WITH HIS OWN TEAM.
Minnesota fans will remember Butler’s brief stay in Minnesota with the Timberwolves. Including a legendary story where in practice Butler was so frustrated with the Timberwolves superstars (read: Karl Anthony-Townes and Andrew Wiggins) that he showed up late for practice one day and challenged the starters to a game against himself and the bench players. As the legend goes, Butler and the scrubs wiped the floor with the big paycheckers that day.
Butler would be summarily asked out of town because his directness wasn’t a culture fit with the Wolves. Because why on earth would the Timberwolves mess with their unique culture (34 Seasons 0 Championships)?
FLORIDA MAN HAVING AS MUCH FUN PLAYING PRO HOCKEY AS A HIGH SCHOOLER AT THE STATE TOURNAMENT.
Part of the magic of Matthew Tkachuk is the sheer joy he’s having during these NHL playoffs. Not only is he collecting overtime GWGs, he’s also having a blast doing it. Whether Tkachuk is doing a little skit rushing off the ice like Bo Jackson, or sliding on his knees like the second coming of Theo Fleury—it’s been a joy to watch these last two months.
FLORIDA MAN GETS FAKE DREADLOCKS TO MESS WITH THE INTERNET.
Jimmy Butler may or may not have had hair extensions when he surprised social media this summer with new look dreadlocks. When asked why he did it, Jimmy said, “I’m just messing with stuff to make the internet mad.”
Obviously, dreadlocks shenanigans is vintage Florida, as the state is famous for taking creative liberties above the neck from James Franco’s character in “Spring Breakers” to former Dolphin Ricky Williams, and most every rerun of “COPS.”
In summary, no one is having more fun these playoffs than Matthew Tkachuk and Jimmy Butler. If you haven’t been on board so far, it’s okay. You have one more series to enjoy them both.
Florida may be where people occasionally eat each other’s faces or find syringes inside their person—but right now it’s also the center of the sports universe. And if Matthew Tkachuk and Jimmy Butler are what a Florida Man looks like, it’s time to hit Zillow and look for a new place to live down there 6-months a year.
