The Howes & Tkachuks: Grace vs Grit

At a Glance

• The NHL is a Family Sport
• Grace & Grit
• The Howes & Tkachuks Face Off

The NHL is a Family Sport

The NHL has a rich history of familial connections. You've probably heard of a few key, generational father and son duos, but you probably had no idea of the extent of the family relationships in the NHL. This Wikipedia article takes it to the extreme and details almost 900 family relationships in the NHL. For example:

Rusty and Zack Fitzgerald were two brothers that played in the NHL. Rusty only played four games in the NHL for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Zack only played one game in the NHL for the Vancouver Canucks.

And then there's this one:

Matt Moulson and Jonathan Quick are related with Mike Backman being father-in-law to both. Moulson is married to Backman's daughter Alicia. Quick is married to Backman's daughter Jaclyn.

Yeah.

But while the familial relationships are plenty, there are far fewer generational father and son duos that made their mark on the sport. Below is a list of notable father and son pairs who have both played in the NHL.

• Bobby Hull and Brett Hull: Both are Hall of Famers and both scored over 600 goals in their careers.
• Gordie Howe and Mark Howe: Gordie, aka “Mr. Hockey,” and his son Mark are both Hall of Famers.
• Keith Tkachuk and his sons Matthew Tkachuk and Brady Tkachuk: Keith had a distinguished NHL career, and both Matthew and Brady are active players, known for their skill and physical play.
• Peter Stastny and Paul Stastny: Peter is a Hall of Famer, and his son Paul had a successful NHL career.
• Claude Lemieux and Brendan Lemieux: Claude was known for his tough playoff performances, and his son Brendan is an active NHL player.
• Geoff Sanderson and Jake Sanderson: Geoff had a notable NHL career, and his son Jake is an emerging talent in the league.
• Paul Reinhart and his sons Max Reinhart, Griffin Reinhart, and Sam Reinhart: Paul had a successful NHL career, and his sons have all played in the league, with Sam being an active player.
• Al MacInnis and Ryan MacInnis: Al is a Hall of Fame defenseman, and his son Ryan has played in the NHL.

We could've taken the above list in a few different directions, but facing off Gordie Howe with Keith Tkachuk just seemed too irresistible.

Grace & Grit

Gordie Howe and Keith Tkachuk are players who dominated their respective eras in distinct ways. Howe was a symbol of skill, longevity, and toughness during hockey’s golden age. Conversely, Tkachuk represented the modern power forward: a blend of brute physicality with a dash of goal-scoring prowess. And while their styles differed, both players left indelible marks on the game.

Howe’s career began in the Original Six era when the NHL was smaller, and the competition was fierce. He played 32 seasons – from the 1940s to the 1980s. Howe was a well-rounded player, blending skill, toughness, and an unmatched hockey IQ. He won 4 Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings and 6 Hart Trophies.

Tkachuk entered the NHL during the league’s post-expansion phase. As one of the premier power forwards, Tkachuk excelled at scoring goals from the “dirty areas” around the net. Tkachuk was a blend of skill and grit, never shying away from a fight while consistently putting up 30+ goals per season. Tkachuk became one of only five American-born players to score 500+ goals and redefined what it meant to be a physical yet skilled scorer.

Below is a comparative snapshot of their respective statistics.

Using the above statistics, we calculated the average Goals, Assists, Points, PIM and Games Played by season. We then charted the results in the following Spider chart. Just from the chart, you can begin to see the ends of the spectrum – with of course a few key takeaways:

• Tkachuk is more physical with a much higher AVG PIM.
• Howe has better production in terms of AVG Points and AVG Assists, but they're closer when it comes to AVG Goals.
• Their AVG Games Played were similar.

So, perhaps the grace of Mr. Hockey was in the playmaking and point production, but Tkachuk performed equally on balance for goals and did it with more grit. Said a more eloquent way: Howe’s career spanned eras where scoring dynamics varied dramatically, yet he scored consistently and often led the league. Tkachuk, meanwhile, was a dominant scorer in an era combining enforcers and goal scorers and still managed multiple 40+ and 50-goal seasons.

Tkachuk also excelled in front of the net, battling defensemen for position and scoring many of his goals from rebounds and deflections. His style of play inspired a generation of power forwards, including his own sons, Matthew and Brady, who now dominate the NHL.

It's one thing to talk about the fathers, but both of these guys have sons who did (and are doing) very well for themselves in the NHL. Gordie Howe had Marty and Mark (Gordie appeared in the WHA alongside his sons), and Keith Tkachuk has Matthew and Brady (both active players).

The Howes and Tkachuks Face Off

The Howe and Tkachuk dynasties couldn’t be more different. While the Howes represent the pinnacle of skill, longevity, and versatility, the Tkachuks are redefining the modern power forward role, blending physicality with scoring touch.

Let's look at them through a few metrics.

Seasons Played

Let's first look at the number of seasons for each player. And keep in mind that Brady and Matthew are active NHL players, so are still playing in the NHL and are sure to have a long career yet.

This gives us a sense of past or current career length, but it doesn't really tell us much about their point production.

Point Production

The Howes’ production is solid. Gordie alone accounted for 2,358 points of the family’s 3,819 points, with Mark adding a Hall of Fame-worthy 1,246 from the blue line. Gordie Howe also accrued 2,084 penalty minutes in his career and was famous for his elbows.

The Tkachuks, however, are no slouches. Keith’s 615 career NHL goals anchor their totals, and both Matthew and Brady are on pace for similar numbers. In fact, when you plot out the AVG Points by Season (AVG PTS) and AVG Points per Game (AVG PTSPG), Matthew is doing well – close to Gordie Howe's career averages.

So, while the Howes overall may be a winner on Points, Matthew Tkachuk is performing well here.

Physicality & Grit

If the Howes were artists, the Tkachuks are warriors. Keith racked up 2,513 penalty minutes in his career, and his sons have embraced their father’s physical style. For example, Matthew has become infamous for mixing it up in scrums, with over 500 PIM and dozens of fights already. And Brady, the youngest, is a throwback to the ‘90s power forward, dominating the net-front and finishing checks with authority.

The Howes weren’t shy about physicality, either—Gordie’s elbows are legendary—but they can’t match the sheer grit of the Tkachuks. In fact, here you can see that all three Tkachuks have a higher AVG PIM and AVG PIM per Game (AVG PIMPG).

Here, the clear winner are the Tkachuks. They embody the enforcer mentality with offensive flair.

Points & PIM Per Game by Season

While it's all and good to evaluate point production and PIM separately, it's also interesting to see how these two stats converge. This gives you an indication of how gritty a high-scoring player could be. Here, we had to call out Keith Tkachuk, who (as you can see by the highlighted region in the scatter plot) has a fairly consistent string of seasons where he had a high PTSPG with a high PIMPG.

This says a lot about Keith Tkachuk and his ability to not only be gritty as hell, but to also put the biscuit in the basket.

So, for the most "balanced" player across grit and production, Keith Tkachuk takes it here.

A Clash of Eras

Comparing the Howes and Tkachuks is a study in how hockey has evolved. Gordie played in an era when toughness was expected but secondary to skill. The Tkachuks, by contrast, thrive in a league where the enforcer ethos has become less common—and thus, more valuable.

In the end, both families represent the best of hockey in their own way. The Howes built the foundation, and the Tkachuks are building the future.

Check out our quick-hit YouTube video below.

Summary

In this week's newsletter, we compared two dynasties: the Howes and the Tkachuks. We first called out some father-son duos that have played and are playing in the league. You can check these out here.

We then compared Gordie Howe and Keith Tkachuk and found that Howe was higher in terms of average point production and assists, but Tkachuk was higher in average penalties. However, we also found that they were similar in their average goals per game and games played.

We them compared the Howes and the Tkachuks as father-son duos and found that the Howes were more point-production oriented whereas the Tkachuks are more grit – while also having goal-scoring capabilities. So, while Gordie Howe may have earned the title "Mr. Hockey," Keith Tkachuk earned the reputation as a gritty and physical player who could put the puck away.

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