20 hockey smiles that prove teeth are overrated
4. Keith Tkachuk
Keith Tkachuk, father of ridiculously fun future NHL superstar Brady Tkachuk, is one of the best American power forwards the game has seen. His dominant physical style paired with his ability to score made him a threat in multiple ways on the ice. To no one’s surprise, it also led to a few missing teeth.
Tkachuk’s tooth loss is one of the more painful sounding on the list. As reported by the Globe and Mail here, Tkachuk took a puck to the face, shattering the upper part of his jaw just below his nose. His front fourth teeth fell out immediately after. Just the thought of taking a puck to that part of the face makes my eyes water.
There’s a happy ending to this story, though, as Tkachuk’s face-shattering incident ended up being his 535th goal. The puck that crushed his teeth ended up deflecting into the net. As the age-old saying goes: Now that’s using your face!
Despite not having any bone left in his upper jaw and the incident being compared to a car accident victim by the team dentist, Tkachuk only missed three games. Hockey guy.