The Pittsburgh Penguins center and Toronto Maple Leafs teammates aced a de facto version of "The Newlywed Game" while participating in a group conference call arranged by the NHL on Monday.
Matthews and Marner became
unofficial members
of the Marleau family while they all played together with Toronto from 2017-19. They bonded over mini stick hockey games at Marleau's house with him and his sons Jagger, Landon, Brody and Caleb.
Marleau, Marner and Matthews were first asked trivia questions about each other, which each aced with no trouble. Then they were grilled with specific questions, including which of the three could survive solely on pizza (Marner), which takes the most penalties during mini stick games (Matthews) and which is most likely to pay for dinner on the road (Marleau).
They also revealed the secret to their bonding: no phones at the table while eating, though there is a caveat.
"We started playing during dinners if you touched your phone you had to pay the bill so we could enjoy each other's presence and talk about other things," Marner said, "It was kind of a fun way to be more interactive with each other."
"But then [Marleau] would get a call from [his wife] Christina or one of the kids," Matthews interjected.
"We made a rule that the phone answer was allowed for Pat," Marner said.
Each player discussed his frustration by the NHL pause due to the coronavirus but reminded fans to stay safe so the season could continue.
"I think the sooner we do all the right things, the sooner we'll all be able to be in front of the fans and enjoying playing again," Marleau said.
