Recently, Matthew Tkachuk of the Florida Panthers and his fiancee, Ellie Connell, celebrated with the Stanley Cup.
The USA had to play without key forward Matthew Tkachuk for the end of its overtime loss to Canada.
Highlights
- Matthew Tkachuk missed Monday’s game against Sweden after being injured on Saturday while playing against Canada.
- Tkachuk was engaged to Ellen Connell in April 2024. She has not talked about Matthew’s recent injury.
- Ellen Connell graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
Matthew sat on the U.S. bench toward the end of the second period Thursday, February 20, 2025, in the 4 Nations Face-Off final, skating one brief shift before returning to the bench.
He was on the bench at the start of the third and never returned to action.
Tkachuk was initially hurt at the end of Saturday’s first USA-Canada game, staying on the bench near the end of the third period.
He missed Monday’s game against Sweden but was in the starting lineup on Thursday, playing on a line with his brother Brady.
ESPN’s Emily Kaplan said that USA assistant coach John Hynes had told her that Tkachuk was battling an injury but had said,
“I can push through this.”
She said he hoped to play a limited role in the third period, but that never materialized.
The Tkachuk brothers had been dominant in the tournament. Matthew and Brady Tkachuk each scored two goals in the opener against Finland.
Then, both brothers started fighting in the opening seconds of Saturday’s game against Canada. Brady left Monday’s game with an injury and reportedly dealt with an illness on Thursday.
But he scored the USA’s opening goal and finished the game with five hits.
Matthew Tkachuk’s Potential Wife, Ellie Connell, Has Been Tight Lipped Regarding His Injury
Matthew Tkachuk and Ellie Connell made their relationship public by posting the photo on their Instagram handle in 2022.
In 2023, the couple attended the NHL Awards together, according to a photo posted on Twitter by the Panthers, showing them together on the red carpet.
However, Matthew has not talked about their relationship publicly or revealed when or how he met Ellen.
In April 2024, a few months before the Stanley Cup victory, a Florida fan shared Twitter social media posts from Ellie’s Instagram, revealing that Tkachuk and Connell were engaged.
Congrats to Matthew Tkachuk and Ellie Connell on getting engaged!
— David (@David954FLA) April 18, 2024
Matthew just can’t stop winning 👀#TimeToHunt pic.twitter.com/v7R7PxWg7V
After Matthew and the Panthers won the Stanley Cup, Connell celebrated with Matthew’s family, including his father, former NHL player Keith Tkachuk, mother Chantal Tkachuk, and sister Taryn Tkachuk.
However, Ellie has been quiet regarding her fiance Matthew’s recent injury while playing against Canada on Saturday, February 15, 2025.
Ellie Connell Is Serving As A Luxury Travel Advisor
Ellie’s private Instagram account is linked to her work account, epc.travel, where she promises her business as a luxury travel advisor.
She is a detail-oriented travel advisor who excels at bringing bucket-list dream vacations to life.
According to her Instagram, Ellie works with Travel Untethered. Like her fiance, Connell, Ellie is from St. Louis, Missouri, per the travel company’s official website.
According to the source, Connell graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
She studied digital media and advertisement at SMU and worked at Worldwide Express as an intern at Fox Sports.
Additional Information
- His father, Keith, is a former National Hockey League player who played for the original Winnipeg Jets, Phoenix Coyotes, St. Louis Blues, and Atlanta Thrashers for 18 years and is a member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.
- Leading up to the 2016 NHL entry draft, Tkachuk was the second-ranked North American skater, described as “a bona fide future star for an NHL club that brings elite skills and attributes.”
- While in high school at Chaminade College Preparatory School, Tkachuk became friends with future NBA superstar Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics, as the two were in the same physical education class.
