Playing 20 Questions With Kraken's Matty Beniers - Part 2

Beniers Dishes on Crosby, MacKinnon, Lucic, and His Coach

We extracted 10 answers yesterday from Kraken center Matty Beniers' interview on the Spittin' Chiclets podcast.

Today, 10 more questions and answers, including Beniers' summer skating routine, getting yapped at by Sidney Crosby, and what his first-ever NHL playoff experience was like.

"I used to skate a lot in the summer. Going into my sophomore year at Michigan, I had a high ankle sprain, so I couldn't skate all summer. I was able to put on some weight and muscle."

"After that, I slowed down how much I skate until late July or August, when I start ramping up. I put the skates away for as long as I can, especially because I'm trying to put on weight. That's tough when you're working out and skating."

"He's intense when he needs to be, before games and during games. Outside the rink, he's just like us, a normal guy. He jokes around on practice days. It's a good mix."

"15-20 games in, we started to win some games. "(We thought), 'We're a good team, we ought to act like we're a good team.' Once we started to believe in ourselves, we started to roll."

"We were playing Edmonton, I think I was dash-four* by the second period. (*On the ice for four more goals-against than goals-for, a "minus-4.) I came to the bench like, 'I don't want to be on the ice right now!' Those are nights you kind of learn from."

"Any of the Bruins guys I play against, it's like, 'Nice!' Playing against (Milan) Lucic*, I got hit and texted my dad, 'I just got hit by Lucic!' (laughing).

(*Milan Lucic played his first eight NHL seasons in Boston, and is now back with the Bruins. He was playing with Calgary when he ran into Beniers.)

"We were just battling. I might have fell or something. He took a penalty and didn't like it. He was letting me know." What was Beniers thinking at the time? "'Oh, this is so cool - he's yelling at me!'"

"It was really intense, especially the first three games, because everybody was pumped up. 

"As the games started going on more and more, everyone gets tired. You're getting hit more, it settles in a little bit more. That's when it started to get a little easier. 

"But those first couple of games, especially on the road, were so fast-paced. (Colorado's Nathan) MacKinnon is just flying around everywhere, and you're just trying to catch him." 

"One game in Dallas in the playoffs, I got hit like 10 times. I feel like I'm not a guy who usually gets hit a lot, but I was getting crushed on the boards. That was tough. (Stars defenseman Jani) Hakanpää was all over me that night."

"No."

Why this question came up deserves some context. Kraken mascot Buoy's backstory is that he's a nephew of the Fremont Troll. Spittin' Chiclets co-host Paul Bissonnette called Buoy "the worst mascot in the league." Matty countered, "The trainers say that all of their kids absolutely love Buoy."