Know your Linemate

A writer asks questions of Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel that are about anything and everything but hockey.

Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel have long been one of the NHL’s most dynamic duos, teaming up for 236 total goals since Guentzel debuted in 2016.

Out on the slippery stuff, their mind meld is undeniable. It seems like each of the two stars always knows what the other is thinking. But what about off the ice?

Over the past week, I put that to the test by playing a version of “The Newlywed Game” with the longtime linemates. For those unfamiliar with the old TV show, in a series of individual conversations I asked each player five unique questions. I then asked them to predict how the other one had answered.

So how did they do? Let’s just say both of them learned something new.

We started with Guentzel, who was thrilled to chat about something other than his uncertain contract situation. The first question: If you had to eat one thing for every meal for the rest of your life ...? He answered before I finished.

“Spaghetti and meat sauce,” Guentzel said. “I think he would know that one.”

Crosby did, getting it right away. The second one was tougher. What was Jake’s favorite goal that he and Crosby had teamed up for? Crosby guessed the first one back in Guentzel’s rookie year or one from Guentzel’s four-goal game in Philly. But Guentzel said Crosby’s “double bat” goal versus Montreal.

He rebounded by quickly identifying what Guentzel said was his hidden talent.

“Golf,” Crosby said. “He’s pretty good at everything, all sports. Golf. Bowling.”

He got the next one, too — and a big kick out of the question I asked Guentzel.

Which would Guentzel least want to do: block a 100-mph slapper, drop the gloves with Ryan Reaves or get beat by Mark Friedman on a highlight goal?

“Yeah, I would not want to get walked by Frieds,” Guentzel had said earlier, laughing at the thought of his cantankerous old teammate. “That’s a good one.”

Sid was stumped on the fifth and final question for Jake — which reality TV show did he think he could win? But Crosby was pumped about his answer.

“He said ‘Jeopardy’? I didn’t know he watched “Jeopardy.” I learned something new about Guentzel,” Crosby said earnestly. “Now we can talk about that.”

He was not as enthused when I said Guentzel also watched “The Bachelor.”

So Crosby guessed 3 of 5. That’s pretty good. Then it was time to query him.

What activity does Crosby look to do on the road whenever Penguins players get a surprise day off? He likes to go for a stroll in that city and maybe go shopping or sit down at a restaurant patio and relax. Guentzel got it correct.

As an aside, Crosby blew my mind when he revealed another of his road hobbies. The world’s most famous hockey player will sometimes play puttputt.

Next question for him: What’s your biggest pet peeve in the dressing room?

“He’ll know this,” replied Crosby, who then got up to grab a roll of white tape.

With his thumb, he pulled up the end of the tape and then tore it in half horizontally, essentially turning an inch-wide roll of stick tape into a half-inch width.

“Guys use tape and sometimes they only use half the tape to make a knob,” Crosby said as he began to unroll half of the tape, stopping once the two sides were clearly lopsided. “The other half sticks up. Then they’ll put the tape back like that. That’s one of my biggest pet peeves. He would know that for sure.”

Guentzel answered with supreme confidence when I asked him this question.

“Stepping on the logo,” he said. “That’s not it? Ohhh. ... I don’t like that either.”

Guentzel came up empty on the next two questions, as well. However, to be fair, they were far more unpredictable than the ones I had initially asked him.

How could he be expected to know the first thing Crosby does every morning is get dressed for the day? Or that if Crosby, a noted history buff, could travel back in time, he would want to live in the age of the Vikings or Spartans?

“Do you know how hard that is? [Expletive],” said Guentzel, who is so competitive that he was legitimately ticked off at that point. “He got the easy ones!”

The final question for Crosby, who is very much not online: Would you rather go five games without getting a single point or do a TikTok dance that went viral?

“Yeah, I mean, I’d do the dance,” he said sheepishly then started to laugh.

That honestly surprised me. Apparently Guentzel, too. He finished 1 for 5.

“That’s not very good. He did a good job for me, but I let him down. I guess I’ve got to get to know him on a deeper level than I already do,” Guentzel chuckled.

A little later, Crosby sought me out as he was leaving the dressing room. He was curious to see how Guentzel did. I winced and told him the bad news.

“Those were pretty hard,” the captain conceded. “We should do Round 2.”