#willmacktoff

sounds like he didn't really give toff much of a choice lol! as we know, wsh loves a good bet, and always delivers even when he loses (see: jersey bet, jersey bet part 2). of course, toff was resistant to this:

I said, "Will, I'm not sleeping over, I'm 32 years-old. That doesn't happen anymore." And [Will] said, "Nope, it's gonna happen, I feel it."

i absolutely love the tone toff puts on when he's doing his will impression lol, he was so self-assured and confident it was gonna happen!

anyway, here we yet again have another instance of will just seeming to be the luckiest boy on the planet ever. maybe this needs to be a post in itself really, but things always seem to go will's way even when it's by the slightest of margins.

like! literally what were the chances of him, mack, and toff scoring, all in the same game? (they did!) and in this specific game where he set this bet? what were the chances of team usa winning worlds 2025? very very slim, there were many stacked teams and they didn't get off to the best start, but they did it!!

i could go on forever, but anyway the point is that will, mack, and toff all scored in the game! toff got an empty netter at the end and hadn't realised that they'd all scored and what that meant yet, then when he skated back to the bench will was yelling 'SLEEPOVER! SLEEPOVER!' which can be seen in this gifset lol. willtoff bearhug my beloved 🥹🥹. will was clearly v excited <3

toff was still adamant that it wasn't going to happen lol, but then his coach came over to him on the plane and told him he has to sleep over now and keep the bet! when asked if he thought about passing the shot instead, toff says he 'wishes [he] did, just because they would have been so mad about it' lol, but he admits that it was very fun in the end <3

soooo, now that we have the context as to how will's sleep habits came to light, let's delve in! one of the most prolific facts that came from toff's podcast interview that seemed to sway fic writing is that will knocks out like a light:

"All three of us were talking and all of a sudden Will rolled over and he was asleep in 5 seconds. I'm not even exaggerating." "The only reason why I knew was because he starting snoring a little bit." "Mack started dying laughing and he's like 'Yeah this is just what he does."

to be fair to will, it was 3-4am at this point according to toff, but seeing as mack has been rooming with will since rookie camp, this is obviously something that happens quite a lot anyway!! 👀

lots of the sharks dropped into their room during the sleepover:

“We had a couple of guys in the room pretty late telling stories,” Smith said. “It was a fun night. [Ty Dellandrea] was in there for a bit, [Jack] Thompson, Mario [Ferraro]. We got in pretty late from Buffalo, so it’s kind of hard falling asleep sometimes after games, so the guys stopped by.”

another amazing fact that came from toff's podcast was that will tried to get another cot ordered to their room so that delly could sleep over too! ofc the front desk was like 'how many people are in there?' so will had to backtrack lol but according to toff:

"I'm like dude, you can't have 15 people sleep in one room. And that's what he wanted! He literally wanted like a full-on slumber party."

i'm a full believer that if it were possible, will would have had the entire team sleeping in their room all together! we know will loves the company of others (he's always facetiming mack/toff if he's not with them) and has millions of friends, and he just loves to be around them! will said himself:

“I like hanging out with people,” Smith said, admitting that he doesn’t like sleeping alone. “I think it’s fun to have a roommate, it’s good camaraderie.”

this all made complete sense when we learned more about will's sleeping habits through an interview a hockey media reporter did with his bc teammates and then shared live on air during a sharks game! 🦈

said teammates were apparantly 'very hesitant' to comment lol... they told the reporter to 'ask him about his sleeping habits' who said:

"I did confirm with Will Smith. He said, 'Yeah, I don't really like to sleep alone. I like to have someone in the room with me.'"

will was sharing rooms all throughout bc because he likes to have someone there! and sharing rooms is by no means a requirement in the nhl where it might be the case in college, in fact, julie was surprised on toff's podcast ep that will and mack even shared a room because 'that's not really a thing anymore'! cat was also surprised as we can see in her texts to toff she shared!

as we know, will and mack have roomed together since rookie camp where they learned they were compatible as roommates (their alarms are set for the same time and they always come down to breakfast together:) and they just... seemed to continue to carry this on into the season, for will, now we know why!!

another super intriguing part of will's bedtime routine after games is that it always seems to include ordering milk and cookies to his room at the hotel. this happened during their sleepover with toff which is where we first learnt of it as a glass of milk can be seen front and centre in the photo toff posted!

in their podcast with cat, they talk about it in more detail and compare different hotels' cookies, and we know this is a will thing rather than a mack thing because on a rare occasion where they weren't rooming together for once in florida (sometimes happens when the 'cuda guys get called up) mack missed out on the best cookies according to will.

this is something will seems to have carried forward from his bc days too. his good friend (and ex-liney) gabe perreault's favourite midnight snack is milk and cookies! so i think it's quite evident will has kept his college hockey bedtime traditions going into the nhl lol <3