'IT WAS TERRIBLE'

He's known as the team's 'emotional leader.'
Its heartbeat.
The one that stirs the drink in so many ways, both on the ice and in the dressing room.
As the cameras panned to Matthew Tkachuk in the late stages of Game 6 against the Dallas Stars as he watched up high in a suite, we saw that raw, distraught, overwhelming sense of helplessness up close and personal.

His face, buried in his hands.
A shake of the head.
A shrug of the shoulders, roll of the eyes, and an angry, 180-degree pivot, while flipping his hat and sauntering off into the proverbial sunset.
"It was terrible," Tkachuk said Wednesday as he addressed the media for the first time since a concussion sidelined him for the final four games of the Flames' opening-round series against the Stars. "It sucked.
"It was just so hard when you're watching. You're helpless. You want to be out there so bad, but it just couldn't happen.
"At the end of the day - for four years now - it's the same result every year and it's not fun.
"Watching was a little bit different, but it was just as hard, if not harder. You see what guys go through, playing through little bumps and injuries, you see how hard they're working… You just want to help them and go to war with them."
Almost a full week later, the turbulent waters have yet to recede.
If anything, the frustration is only just beginning to set in.
Tkachuk, who was forced to leave Game 2 after getting squeezed in the neutral zone and colliding head-first with the 6-foot-7, 225-lb. Jamie Oleksiak, might have been healthy by now. While he confirmed Wednesday that he was "absolutely not" returning to the series, even if the Flames pushed it to a seventh and deciding game, knowing that he could/would have been a factor by now if the team had advanced is torturing his competitive side.
"I was definitely trending in the right direction," he said. "I was feeling better each day and if we could have got past those guys…
"I don't want to put a game or a time on it because that's not how it works with these things. I would have to skate and pass some (tests). I would have had to try it out in practice, all that stuff. But right around now, I would have been ready to go.
"That's the hardest part."

Tkachuk says he knew "right away" that he was dealing with something serious.
Head injuries are nothing to scoff at, so he credits the Flames' medical staff for looking out for his well-being, long-term.
"I wasn't myself," Tkachuk said of the injury. "But in saying that, you can't put a timeline on it. It's at least a week or two with these things. They always are.
"You're not going to be back out there in a day - I don't care who you are. It's not safe.
"Everybody in the hockey world - fans, teammates, myself - would have loved to have gotten back out there as soon as possible, but I have to applaud our doctors for taking care of me, caring about me and making sure we got this right.
"It was tough, especially with the situation in the bubble, being hurt. I enjoyed the bubble, had fun in the bubble, but once you get hurt, there's nothing to do and there are no distractions, so it's tough."
Tkachuk, who wears an 'A,' echoed what many of his teammates have relayed over the past few days - that this group was one of the closest any of them have had the chance to play with. Couple that with the fact that they'll never have the chance to compete, together, with the exact same group of guys again, and the exit certainly stings.
The winger admitted seeing shots taken on social media at some of the Flames' top players has been difficult for him.
Like a good leader does, Tkachuk - who had one goal, two points, 14 hits and 10 penalty minutes in six playoff games - came to their defence and pointed the finger directly at himself.
"I couldn't believe some of the criticism that some of the guys on my team were getting for this and getting the blame for this," he said. "Especially the criticism towards Johnny and Mony.
"It makes me sick and it really upsets me and it pisses me off.
"Everyone was upset about them for their offensive production. Well, they produced more offence than me, so put the blame on me. I didn't do nearly enough to help get this team over the top when I was in the lineup.
"Those guys are unbelievable players in this league and they're really great friends.
"I know that in order to get us over (the top), especially myself, I have to do everything I can this off-season to make sure I come back ready to go and not take this opportunity for granted.
"We all want to win in Calgary so bad and we haven't even come close."

The Flames believed this year they had the horses to make a deep run and challenge anyone for the ultimate prize.
Personally, though, Tkachuk laments how things ended because he felt he could have made a more significant impact prior to the injury.
"We bet on ourselves when nobody else would," he said. "Not many people had us making a splash in these playoffs, except us. We truly believed we could beat anybody and had that belief in us the whole time. We know we can win in a bunch of different styles, and the next step is going out and doing it.
"The last one wasn't great game for myself and I didn't (bring) as much to the table, which is why it's frustrating. Looking back, that was my last chance to have an impact and try to get a win for my team.
"Didn't get that.
"I would have loved to have made a difference in that game."
In time, the wounds will heal.
But for now, the anger endures and is already fuelling him for a better result next year.
That isn't just an expression of leadership.
That's Matthew Tkachuk in a nutshell.
"Right now, as hard as it is to say - and I'm probably going to say it anyway - we have to try and move on," he said. "It's a lot harder for us and basically impossible for me.
"We just wanted to win for each other. … As much as we wanted to win for everyone on the outside - for the fans, and they deserve it - we wanted it for each other more than anything. That's what makes a great team. That's how it starts.
"We got to be so close. That's why you play and being in that bubble, that's all you have is each other.
"I miss those guys right now. We should still be there and battling for each other, but unfortunately, that's not the way it is.
"I just wish I could get one more game in with all those guys."