NHL offers awards for best ice hockey dogs of the year
The North American National Hockey League (NHL) is giving awards to the best dogs involved in the ice hockey season.
Decided by fans as part of the Fan Choice Awards, there are two categories – Best Dog and Best Team Dog – with four nominees in each.
Yes, all of the Best Team Dog nominees are good boys! 🐶
No, there can't be more than one winner. 🤷♂️
VOTE NOW ➡️ https://t.co/nyeIMquo6y #NHLFanChoice pic.twitter.com/J4FssKyWl3
— NHL (@NHL) June 5, 2019
In this case Best Team Dog refers to the best dog owned by a team in the NHL, where adopting puppies has become a growing trend.
The dogs act as mascots for their teams and are often seen playing with the players, but many are also training to become service dogs later in life.
One adorable and popular example of such a trainee is nominee Barclay of the St Louis Blues, who is partial to joining in with practice.
Ruff practice 🏒 #stlblues pic.twitter.com/5czhpopgrc
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) December 13, 2018
#TBT to when I was just a wee pup! Still loved the blues tho. #stlblues
A post shared by Barclay (@stlbluespup) on Feb 7, 2019 at 8:52am PST
Another nominee at home on the ice is Ranger who, perhaps unsurprisingly, lends his support to the New York Rangers.
Ranger is training to become an autism service dog, helping autistic people with their daily lives.
👀 my first time getting on the ice @TheGarden!
I need to get some new skates, this was a ruff start! 🐾⛸#ThrowbackFursdays #TBT #NYRPupOnAPath pic.twitter.com/SwBESMyak6
— Ranger (@NYRangersPup) August 9, 2018
Radar of the New York Islanders and Rookie of the Ottawa Senators complete the line-up of nominees for Best Team Dog.
Meanwhile, in the Best Dog category those up for awards include Riziy, owned by Russian Columbus Blue Jackets winger Artemi Panarin.
Готовимся к @nikitakucherov86 с @mr_riziy getting ready for Tampa💪 working on corners battles #nhl
A post shared by Артемий Панарин (@artemiypanarin) on Apr 8, 2019 at 9:56am PDT
And San Jose Sharks defenceman Marc-Edouard Vlasic has all three of his pups nominated as a collective.
Kelly, Nicky and Macy are all rescue dogs and from the pictures he has shared of them it’s fair to say they are his best friends.
Off-season training! 🐶 pic.twitter.com/XSjR7ZedtU
— Marc-Édouard Vlasic (@Vlasic44) July 18, 2018
My kind of birthday party 🐶🐶🎈 would not have it any other way. pic.twitter.com/jB1nGAThpa
— Marc-Édouard Vlasic (@Vlasic44) April 3, 2018
Simba and Lola, owned by Jaccob Slavin of the Carolina Hurricanes, and Ralph, who lives with Chicago Blackhawks winger Alex DeBrincat, make up the rest of the Best Dog category.
The NHL Fan Choice Awards has 20 categories in total, including Best Goalie Mask, Best Beard and GIF of the Year, along with the more traditional Save of the Year and Goal of the Year.
Voting ends for the contest on June 15.