Cats Check-In: Matheson Doing Instagram Workouts Painting Furniture
Through this new "Cats Check-In" series, FloridaPanthers.com's Jameson Olive will be catching up with some of these players to see how they've been spending their days, with questions ranging from what they're currently binge-watching on TV to how they're keeping in shape.
This week's check-in: Panthers defenseman Mike Matheson.
OLIVE: It's been almost a month since the NHL season began its pause. How are you and your wife, Emily, keeping busy and holding up while riding things out in South Florida?
MATHESON: Not too bad. I'm as good as I can be. We're just trying to do what we're told to do, just staying at home and trying to make the most out of it. We don't really get to see each other that much during the season because it seems like we're always going in different directions, so Em and I have been trying to enjoy this time together of just being able to sit at home right now.
OLIVE: How have you been spending that time? Have you settled into a routine?
MATHESON: We've been painting some bedroom furniture, doing some puzzles, doing a bit of fishing. It's a lot of things that we don't normally get to do. And we're obviously working out, too. I think one of the things that we've tried to do is stick to a little bit of a routine, just working out-wise. It gives you a bit of a sense of purpose to each day, I'd say, instead of waking up at noon one day and then getting to the point where the days just combine with each other. For the most part we've been waking up and working out right away. We also take our dog, Hank, for walks.
OLIVE: Painting furniture? Is that something you've had planned for a while?
MATHESON: It was mostly Em's idea. I didn't really want to do it [laughs]. It ended up being a bit bigger of a project than we expected. It was definitely not something we would have done during the season. We wouldn't have had time. We've put in some long hours of work with it.
OLIVE: Did you have any input when it came to picking the paint?
MATHESON: I'm just the guy that gets told what to do and then goes and does it [laughs]. No, I actually had a little bit of input when it came to deciding on the colors we used. It's pretty plain stuff, so it was just about picking some shade of white since there's about 1,000 of them.
OLIVE: When it comes to working out at home, how much does it help that your wife is not only a fellow defenseman, but also an Olympic gold medalist with Team USA?
MATHESON: It makes it easier to stay motivated when you have a workout partner. If one of us wakes up one morning and doesn't really feel like doing it, the other one is there to kind of be like, "No, we've got to get it done." We've been able to kind of support each other that way. One of the biggest helps for us has actually been our trainer back in Montreal, John Chaimberg.
OLIVE: How has he been able to assist you with your new at-home workout regime?
MATHESON: Basically, he posts daily workouts. He's been doing an Instagram Live series from his gym. He's been doing hourlong circuits. There's been upwards of like 1,000 people watching a few of the workouts, but it's usually around 700-800. He's not getting paid for any of this. He just figured that everyone is in a tough situation right now and the best thing he can do is to try and be a bit of a bright spot in people's days by giving them something to look forward to and keep them moving rather than having them sit on their couches. We've been pretty lucky to be able to follow along with him and use the videos as an added tool to stay in shape during this.
OLIVE: When you finally hit the couch at the end of the day, what are you watching?
MATHESON: We've kind of been flipping through Netflix, watching a bunch of different shows. We went through the tiger show. It's so funny.
OLIVE: Tiger King? I just started!
MATHESON: Just wait. It goes off the deep end. You'll be sitting there just going, "There's no way this actually happened in real life." Other than that, I've also been playing a bit of XBOX.
OLIVE: Are you playing online with any of your Panthers teammates?
MATHESON: Yeah, we'll all get on together. For the most part, it's been Call of Duty. Huby [Jonathan Huberdeau's], Ekky [Aaron Ekblad's], Hoff [Mike Hoffman] and Frankie [Frank Vatrano] are all on there. Stiller [Riley Stillman] is also on there sometimes.
OLIVE: Has it been nice to maintain a team-like atmosphere through video games?
MATHESON: Yeah. You can also tell that the guys miss each other on our team's group text. It seems like every day somebody texts everyone with something funny that they've come across. We're kind of keeping in touch that way and keeping everyone involved in it.
OLIVE: I know everyone's been doing a lot more cooking at home these days. Did you already enjoy cooking or are you only starting to explore your culinary side just now?
MATHESON: Yeah, both of us… I mean, I don't think we're good cooks. [Laughs] But we do it often, let's put it that way. We actually usually do HelloFresh. We've done that in the past and kind of got away from it over the last little while. But ever since we've been back home during this quarantine we've started back up just because it's such a good way to get meals into the house without having to go out to the grocery store and all that.
OLIVE: You mentioned fishing earlier. What's going on there?
MATHESON: Well, not a whole lot is going on. We've barely caught anything [laughs]… We figure that going out on the boat is kind of a great way to be away from people, but still be able to do something pretty cool that we enjoy doing. We've been trying to take advantage of that as a way to get out of the house and keep us sane for a few hours.
OLIVE: When I talked to Mark Pysyk the other day, he said his hair is starting to get so long that his wife has offered to start cutting it. Is that something that you'd consider?
MATHESON: Em and I have talked about that. I think it might come to that. It's looking worse and worse every day [laughs]. I'm not saying it ever looked amazing, but it's getting pretty long. We might take the kitchen scissors out and try to cut it down.
OLIVE: Will Emily let you cut her hair or is this only an option for yourself?
MATHESON: It's definitely just for me [laughs]. She's in the background shaking her head.
OLIVE: I know a lot fans out there don't know that you actually serve as the NHLPA representative for the Panthers. In that position, have you been tasked with anything, such as helping keep your teammates updated during these unprecedented times?
MATHESON: Yeah, definitely. That's kind of my role as the rep, to be the go-between between the NHLPA and the players. It's just constantly relaying information and then getting opinions and then relaying that back. That's been my job, to get on the phone calls and see what's up. Obviously everyone wants hockey to be back as quickly as possible, especially us. We're itching to be able to play again, especially when you get calendar alerts on your phone and it's something like, "Oh, you're supposed to be playing this game tonight." That's tough. But it's much bigger than just playing hockey right now. It's about making sure that everybody around the world is safe and healthy. If it gets to the point where we can go back to playing without negatively affecting those around us, then obviously we're going to be itching to do that. For now, it's just about waiting for everything to develop. That's hard, but you've just got to be patient.
Stay tuned for more "Cats Check-Ins" with your favorite Panthers!
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