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+ CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE COMPLETE LIST OF NATIONAL CHAMPIONS AND RUNNERS-UP. your head, and I have enough of those already," Tkachuk said afterward. "It's tough getting scored on with nine seconds left, but our goalie had to make a great save in triple overtime that gave us some momentum. "It was great. I looked up in the stands and seeing the crowd we had watching that game." It's moments like that, when seemingly sure victory is snatched from the grasp that the experience that comes with play- ing in more than 1,200 NHL games, and on four U.S. Olympic Teams, can help put things into perspective. Along the way Tkachuk played for some great coaches, such as Joel Quenneville, Ron Wilson and Herb Brooks, who helped him develop his own coaching style. "I played for some great coaches, and you pick up things along the way that you remember that were positive influences," Tkachuk said. looking at it from where they started to where they finished. It isn't about wins and losses but how they develop. We take pride in that." "The thing I like about [coaching] is Keith Tkachuk was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2011. He is one of only four American-born players to score more than 500 goals in the NHL. As if to give credence to the adage, "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree," Matthew Tkachuk snapped the tie with less than two minutes remaining in the third overtime to lift the Blues into the semifinals. Braeden Tkachuk was a member of the St. Louis Jr. Blues team that made it to the semifinals of the Tier I 12 & Under tournament last year in Hackensack, N.J. "It was great. He's such a great kid. He works hard and he loves the game of hockey," Dad said after his son's five-point performance. As far as he is concerned, that's enough to keep him coming back to the rink, night after night, throughout the course of a long youth hockey season. "I feel like I'm busier now than when I played, but I enjoy it," he said. "Hopefully I can do it for many more years. As long as my kids want me to keep coaching I'm going to keep on doing it." There's no doubt that there's a lot of hockey left in Tkachuk's tank. His place may have changed from in front of opposing nets to behind the bench, but the man who was inspired by the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team and went on to inspire the next crop of NHL stars, is now looking to do the same for future generations. And while he would someday like to once again wear the USA crest, perhaps as a coach with a U.S. National Team, for now he is at home in St. Louis, spending most nights of the week on the ice with his two sons' teams. "I don't know what I would do if I wasn't at practice every night, or every other night," he said. "I love being around the kids, and I love helping out. But it has been a long year with two different teams, so I could defi- nitely use a break." N "THE THING I LIKE ABOUT [COACHING] IS LOOKING AT IT FROM WHERE THEY STARTED TO WHERE THEY FINISHED. IT ISN'T ABOUT WINS AND LOSSES BUT HOW THEY DEVELOP. WE TAKE PRIDE IN THAT." —COACH KEITH TKACHUK USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM JUNE/JULY.2012 19