Tkachuk congratulates Messi on moving to Florida

Matthew Tkachuk from the Florida Panthers is very happy to have a football star like Lionel Messi in the neighborhood in the future. The multiple world footballer and world champion from Argentina recently signed a contract with MLS club Inter Miami.

“I think this is the best place to be a professional athlete right now,” Tkachuk said. “It’s a great place for an athlete. We’re lucky to live here and be able to play the sport we love so much.”

The US state of Florida is home to numerous major league franchises in various sports: The Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning in ice hockey (NHL), the Miami Dolphins, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Jacksonville Jaguars in football (NFL), the Miami Heat and the Orlando Magic in basketball (NBA), the Florida Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays in baseball (MLB), and Inter Miami and Orlando City (MLS).

“We’re lucky to be surrounded by other great franchises here in such a great part of the country to live in,” Tkachuk continued. “Whatever the sport, we have an NBA finalist here and the Dolphins had a great season too.”

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Tkachuk himself has only been at the Sunshine State since the 2022-23 season. The Panthers brokered a trade with the Calgary Flames before the season. In Florida, the 25-year-old power forward really blossomed and played a career year in the NHL with 109 points (40 goals, 69 assists) in 79 main round games. He was by far the top scorer for the Panthers. Ditto for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, where Tkachuk led his team with 22 points (10 goals, 12 assists) from 18 playoff games and emerged as a game-winning playoff monster (four game-winning goals, three of them in overtime). .

Messi’s change was also an issue for the final opponent Vegas Golden Knights. “I’m surprised,” Center said William Karlsson. The Swede is a proven football fan. “I would have thought he would have been good to play in Europe too. Of course it’s great for the USA and football here. I would have hoped he would stay in Europe and have another Champions League title here or something like that win. Maybe he wants to slow down a bit here. I’ve heard Miami is a great place to live. I’ll be following him in MLS too, but obviously I would have liked him to come back to Barcelona.”