Keith Yandle questions Tim Stutzle dinner snub, slams Senators fans over booing Brady Tkachuk tribute

Keith Yandle came out firing on the latest Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, accusing Senators fans of crossing the line with Brady Tkachuk and wondering out loud if Tim Stutzle got left off the guest list for a pre-game dinner.

Yandle was one of the National Hockey League’s top defencemen during the 1,109 games he played in his career.

He did a pretty good job trying to come to Tkachuk’s defence during the podcast episode released the day after the Ottawa Senators delivered a 5-1 pounding to the former captain and the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night at the Canadian Tire Centre.

Yandle, 40, a close friend of the Tkachuk family who played for the Arizona Coyotes, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers and Panthers during his career, insinuated Stutzle didn’t receive an invitation to dinner and called the booing of the welcome-back video “disgusting.”

Speaking with co-hosts Ryan Whitney and Paul Bissonnette on Thursday, Yandle said he was surprised as many as 10 Senators players had dinner with Tkachuk on Tuesday in Ottawa before the two clubs faced off.

Jake Sanderson and Drake Batherson were among the former teammates who went to dinner with Tkachuk, but Stutzle told reporters Wednesday morning he didn’t attend because “I have a chef.”

“AKA, I wasn’t invited,” Yandle said of Stutzle’s comments.

We’re not sure who was invited and who wasn’t — but Sanderson, who won a gold medal with Tkachuk and Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics in February — was in charge of organizing the dinner.

It would be hard to believe that Stutzle wasn’t given the option to break bread with Tkachuk and the boys.

“I was honestly shocked hearing how many guys went to dinner and how hard they played against each other,” Yandle said.

You have to think Stutzle was given the option, but even Whitney, Bissonnette and Yandle wondered why his relationship with Tkachuk has soured.

“I believe at one point Stutzle and Brady were close and even lived together. You can tell there’s zero love lost there,” Whitney said.

Yandle was taken aback by the crowd’s reaction to the video tribute that played during a television timeout. It featured Tkachuk’s work in the community during his eight seasons in Ottawa, but it was booed relentlessly.

Tkachuk smiled and waved to the crowd at centre ice after it was over. However, there was little appreciation.

“I agree with them chanting, booing, all that s*** during the game. I thought it was a little disgusting that they booed while they were giving him the ceremony on TV,” Yandle said.

Bissonnette told Yandle to “shut up,” while Whitney didn’t agree either.

The trio started the show by giving the sellout crowd of 17,010 a round of applause, not only for the constant booing but also for getting the home team fired up.

“They deserve a round of applause for the show that these guys and girls put on,” Whitney said. “It’s not often you get a game on Oct. 21 and know that it’s going to be a top-five, top-three or the best night in the NHL regular season because that was electric.

“It ended up exceeding expectations. I will remember that night for a long time, and it’s a regular-season game.”

They also appreciated the imaginative chants that the crowd sent Tkachuk’s way.

“The choreographed chants and I almost want every (bleeping) captain in the league to stab their team in the back and ask for a trend now,” Bissonnette said.