As young star centers, Matty Beniers of the Seattle Kraken and Will Smith of the San Jose Sharks are wintertime Pacific Division rivals. But during the summer along the Atlantic coast, the Boston-area natives morph from rivals to roommates.
Beniers’ hometown in the Beantown suburb of Hingham is less than an hour’s drive from Smith’s birthplace in Lexington. Matty was selected 2nd overall by the Kraken in the 2021 NHL Draft; the Sharks picked Will 4th overall in 2023.
So it’s natural they skate together when they’re not visiting with friends and family. The roomies are also teammates in one of Berniers’ two co-ed softball leagues (image at left).
“I’m actually defending champs” on both his teams, Beniers said with a laugh on the Spittin’ Chicklets podcast. “It’s a blast. I’m in one in Hingham. Our (team) name is ‘Bang Street.’ 15 teams, all kids from Hingham. This is the last year we can do this. We’re aging out.”
Matty also has discovered his pickleball game needs work. “I’ll give (Smith) his props. I got demolished. I would say I’m a pretty athletic guy; I grew up playing every sport. That’s what we do in our free time. Hoops, softball. Pickleball, he shelled me. I didn’t get a point the first game we played.”
One personality trait of pro athletes – they hate to lose at anything. So Beniers made sure to point out he got his revenge on the links. “I did best him in golf last week. I was just striking the ball. He did not strike the ball.”
How Kraken & Sharks Forwards Grew A Friendship
Berniers and Smith both made recruiting visits to the University of Michigan. Beniers played two seasons for the Wolverines, while Smith chose to stay closer to home at Boston College for one year.
“My family knew his parents,” Berniers recalled. “My mom went out with me to Michigan and his mom did the same. I knew of him. Two, three years ago we started skating together in the summer, working out, having a good time together. I like living with someone; Smitty needed someone to live with in Boston. So it worked out well.”
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