Rust and Aston-Reese at odds over new household rule

Teammates and current roommates Bryan Rust and Zach Aston-Reese (and their puppies, of course) have become breakout stars during this pause. They had a couple of entertaining video interviews on Friday with everyone's favorite rinkside reporter, Dan Potash.

The conversation started with just Rust, and Potash stirring the pot a little bit by asking if there is anything his guest has done that drives him crazy.
"I got to say, he's pretty good," Rust said. "He helps out with the laundry quite a bit, does a pretty good job cleaning, things like that."
Rust paused.
"BUT…"
Potash laughed and gleefully rubbed his hands together, waiting for Rust to continue.
"There are currently three dogs in the house: I got two (mini golden retrievers Cooper and Oliver) and he's got his puppy (Italian greyhound Carl)," Rust said. "And we have this rule in the house that if you've got a dog on your lap and if you're snuggling with a dog you can't really do anything else. If you want, say, some water or something, you can ask somebody to get you a water and they can't say no.
"Every time it comes time for dishes, he seems to grab one of the dogs and run over to the couch and say 'I can't help with the dishes, I've got a dog on my lap.' So, he seems to abuse the rule a little bit when it comes time to do the dishes."
A veteran move, Potash said, and Rust agreed.

Staying on the topic of dogs, Potash asked about the video of Rust doing Bulgarian split splits while holding Oliver, the younger of the two mini goldens - and what he would have done if he needed to add more weight.
"We would've had to get pretty creative," Rust said. "My other dog is about 48 pounds. So, we would have gotten creative. Luckily, I was able to get some dumbbells in the house, so the dogs are off duty."
At that point, Potash's cat Jake made a cameo in the video. Potash said he likes to sit with him during all of his DANCAM sessions.
"My dogs would be in here, but Reeser is playing the guitar right now," Rust said. "He's out there jamming in the living room right now, and the dogs really like it."
Potash told Rust to put out a tip jar and add a $10 bill for him.
"That ten-spot will go to me," Rust laughed. "That'll be his rent."

Once Aston-Reese was done playing, he joined the conversation holding a sleepy Carl in his arms.
"He's tired right now," Aston-Reese said. "Honestly, I don't understand. This guy takes three naps before 11 a.m. It's crazy. He's always sleeping."
"Here's what I don't understand," Potash said. "How come whenever it comes time to do the dishes, you can't get up because he's in your lap used as an excuse?"
Aston-Reese, clearly caught, laughed and said, "All right, well, if we're going to go there, there was a rule made a couple days ago that if a dog is in your lap…"
"He knows about the rule," Rust interjected.
"…That you don't have to do anything," continued Aston-Reese. "So, Carl just happened to be napping. Crazy coincidence. But this guy, look at him, he's always in my lap. He's like a little parrot sometimes. He's on my shoulder, he's in my lap. Great cuddle dog."

All jokes aside, Aston-Reese and Rust are enjoying each other's company in a full house along with Bryan's wife Kelsey, her brother Jarrett Burton and, of course, and the three dogs.
"I've been really lucky here," Aston-Reese said. "Bryan and Kelsey have really been taking care of me. Bryan's brother-in-law is here, I got to play with him in Wilkes-Barre too. As unfortunate as this situation is, I couldn't be in a better spot right now."
"Don't get too comfortable," Potash warned. "Sooner or later you're going to have to go to your own pad and clean it up!"
"I know," Aston-Reese said with a laugh. "I'm kind of dreading that. I won't have any more home-cooked meals."
They said Kelsey has been trying out some new recipes that have all turned out well.
"She tried making these braised short ribs, and it was a very long day of cooking for her, but they turned out unbelievable," Rust said. "They fell off the bone. I think she's trying to come up with an idea of making some sort of recipe book during this entire thing, because she's been trying to experiment and make new stuff."

When they're not working out or eating, the boys are staying busy and staying ready for whenever hockey comes back.
"It's been a season of adversity, whether it was all the injuries, injuries to key players and things like that, I think we just have to overcome adversity," Rust said last week. "Depending on how this goes, if we get back into the season it's just another hurdle we're happy to try to overcome."