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Ottawa Senators get guide dog in training as a new teammate

ByWesley Coburn|
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 28: Matt Duchene #95 of the Ottawa Senators celebrates his power-play goal against the New York Islanders at 2:47 of the second period at the Barclays Center on December 28, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 28: Matt Duchene #95 of the Ottawa Senators celebrates his power-play goal against the New York Islanders at 2:47 of the second period at the Barclays Center on December 28, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

The Ottawa Senators will get some help this season from their new four-legged teammate.

The Ottawa Senators have become the latest team in the National Hockey League to have their newest team member be a service dog in training, as a doggo joins the team in Canada’s capital.

The Senators’ pup is a male black Labrador Retriever who is currently without a name, and he will become a guide dog when he grows up.

Ottawa is at least the fourth NHL team to have a service dog this season, as the New York Rangers have Ranger the  autism service dog, the New York Islanders have Radar the guide dog, and the St Louis Blues have Barclay the service dog. All of these dogs are male yellow Labs.

The Lab, incidentally, hails from the nearby province of Newfoundland.

The Double-A level Kansas City Mavericks of the ECHL also have a service dog, a Weimaraner named Mave, who will help a veteran with PTSD when she grows up. There are likely more teams doing this, but Dog O’Day isn’t aware of any more at the moment.

The team will have a name-the-pup contest online, and posted an introductory video of the puppy’s first practice meeting the team on Thursday.

“We were approached by the CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind) and they asked if we wanted to be a puppy raiser,” Senators Chief Marketing Officer Dezel stated in the Twitter video.

“He’s about 13 months old, so he’ll be changing a lot over the next 12 months,” Dezel said.

“He’ll be at games, he’ll be wearing his CNIB vest to show that he’s in the training program, so that’s how you’ll know how to find him, and he’ll be out there attracting the fans,” Dezel said.

Ottawa is having a rough season so far in the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division, with 34 points in 38 games, and a record of 15-19-4. (Two points are earned per win, one point per overtime loss.)

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