Matthews, the Toronto Maple Leafs center, talked with co-hosts Dan Rosen and Shawn P. Roarke about how playing tennis has become one of his favorite off-ice hobbies and why he loves it so much.
"I got into it last summer because I couldn't golf for a little bit when I had wrist surgery and I just really loved it and was playing a little throughout the year on off days," Matthews said. "We'd get some guys to go play doubles and just mess around. I really started to like it. I really started to like watching it. The offseason, that's all I did the first part of it, play tennis, take lessons and try to get better at it."
Matthews said not being good at a sport like tennis is fun for him because it gives him something to work on.
"It was cool going from last year, where we'd go play and we'd just be kind of bunting the ball over the net, and now we're actually playing and having these pretty incredible points where we're looking at each other like, 'Holy cow, that just happened,'" Matthews said. "It's fun. It's nice to have something to work at it and improve at it, just like hockey."
Matthews also talked about his family vacation to Montana and about trying to score 60 goals again, which he did last season.
Werenski also joined Rosen and Roarke, and the defenseman talked about how he found out that Gaudreau was first interested in the Blue Jackets and eventually when the forward signed a seven-year, $68.25 million contract ($9.75 million average annual value) with them July 13.
"I was kind of reading that Columbus was trying to make a splash and get some players and we signed defenseman Erik] Gudbranson, and then I saw something that Gaudreau might be interested in Columbus," Werenski said. "So, I FaceTimed Eric Robinson, who was best friends with Johnny growing up. He just kind of smiled and was like, 'The rumor is kind of true, he's interested and kind of wants to come here.' After that I was just refreshing Twitter all day and next thing you know, I saw that he signed. [Sportsnet reporter] Elliotte Friedman tweeted it, first one I saw, and the next thing I know my phone is blowing up, my parents are calling me, friends and everyone was super excited. It was just an awesome day and it's great for the city and organization."
Werenski went on to discuss how significant it is for Columbus that Gaudreau signed and why it is an underrated hockey market.
"If you're not from Columbus or played for Columbus or spent an extended time there, you're never really going to know what it has to offer," Werenski said. "I've been fortunate to spend six years there and I'm going on my seventh. I have spoken very highly of it. With Johnny, obviously he's seen it, he's heard about it, but he's really going to get a feel for how great the city is this year."
In addition to the interviews with Matthews and Werenski, Rosen and Roarke offered their predictions for who will make the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season, who will represent each conference in the Stanley Cup Final and who will be crowned champion.
They also discussed injury issues with the Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators, and the thought that Toronto forward Mitchell Marner may at times be used as a defenseman.
The "NHL @TheRink" podcast is free and listeners can subscribe on all podcast platforms. It is also available on
[NHL.com/multimedia/podcasts
and the NHL app.
---
Listen: New episode of NHL @TheRink
