On Wednesday evening, the highly anticipated return of former Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk to Canadian Tire Centre took place. And while Tkachuk scored the first goal of the game, the Senators responded with several unanswered goals of their own en route to a 4-1 victory.

The game was marked by multiple anti-Tkachuk chants from the crowd, including multiple profanity-laced chants, as plenty of Ottawa fans felt a sense of betrayal from the former captain who had affirmed his commitment to the team following their loss in the Stanley Cup Playoffs earlier in the spring.

Watching from afar, Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander, who knows all about the kind of vitriol that fans of a rival fan base can bring, had a hilarious question about the former Senators' captain's return to his old venue.

“Were they throwing snakes at Brady?” Nylander asked via TSN on X, formerly known as Twitter.

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Nylander well remembers the return of current Maple Leafs teammate John Tavares to the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in 2019 after he bolted from the New York Islanders to sign with his hometown club, facing a highly hostile crowd that serenaded the veteran forward with vulgar chants throughout the game; there were even a few plastic snakes that were thrown onto the ice in his direction by angry fans.

Tkachuk requested to be traded from the Senators not long after their opening-round playoff loss to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes, and he was dealt to the divisional rival Florida Panthers, who already featured his brother Matthew Tkachuk.