Service dogs are the newest and hottest teammates to have when it comes to what’s happening on the ice this season.
Hockey is, in my opinion, maybe the best team sport of all. And service dogs have maybe the most important jobs in all the career options available in dogdom. Put them together, and you get a very good combination, rated 12/10.
The National Hockey League has at least three teams this season with service dogs in training.
The New York Rangers have Ranger the yellow Lab, who is training to be an autistic child’s service dog with BluePath. You can follow his adventures on Instagram and Twitter at @NYRangersPup, or with the hashtag #NYRPupOnAPath.
The New York Islanders have a yellow Lab of their own in Radar, who is training to be a guide dog with the Guide Dog Foundation. You can follow his progress with the hashtag #NYIPupWithAPurpose.
Meet Radar. The @NYIslanders pup with a purpose 🐾 pic.twitter.com/8xmpqohCQZ
— ESPN (@espn) December 2, 2018
The St Louis Blues are also working with a yellow Lab destined to be a service dog with area group DUO. He was named after legendary Blues player Barclay Plager, and can be followed on Instagram at @stlbluespup.
Plager was a four-time All-Star who was an original member of the Blues during their expansion season in 1967. Both of his brothers also played for St. Louis.
Barclay was on display earlier this week as the Blues hosted the Edmonton Oilers in the NBC Sports Network’s Wednesday game of the week, where he played around with announcer Doc Emrick.
it's very Thursday so here's Doc Emrick playing with @stlouisblues v. good pupper Barclay, you're welcome pic.twitter.com/eiKGg8ROFm
— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) December 6, 2018
The Double-A level Kansas City Mavericks of the ECHL (which also includes the Indy Fuel) also have a canine teammate in Mave, who is working with Warriors’ Best Friend, a group that rescues dogs in the Kansas City area and trains them as service animals for wounded veterans.
Mave is a four month old Weimeraner, and she made her team debut about a week ago.
To keep up with her progress, follow the Mavericks on Twitter at @KC_Mavericks or Instagram @kcmavericks.
We very much approve of this, and think more teams in other sports ought to do the same.
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