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Ottawa Senators guide dog now has a name – Rookie

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 are one of several NHL teams this season to have a service dog join the team, and the Ottawa Senators guide dog now has a name.

The Ottawa Senators announced several weeks ago that they picked up a new teammate in an eight-week-old male black Lab puppy who will be trained to be a guide dog with the CNIB, the Canadian National institute for the Blind. However, the dog did not have a name yet.

“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 introducing the puppy.

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

They are at least the fourth National Hockey League team to take part in a canine partnership this year that Dog O’Day is aware of, joining the New York Rangers’ Ranger the yellow Lab (autism dog), the New York Islanders’ Radar the yellow Lab (guide dog) and the St. Louis Blues’ Barclay (service dog).

The Double-A level Kansas City Mavericks of the ECHL have Mave the Weimaraner, who will be paired with a veteran with PTSD.

Last Friday the Senators announced that, following the results of an online poll for fans to vote in, the pup would be named Rookie.

Rookie the Senators pup went to his first hockey game at the Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday afternoon, though unfortunately for him, Ottawa lost 4-3 to the Minnesota Wild.

Rookie the Golden Retriever, the veteran batdog of Triple-A baseball’s Trenton Thunder, approves of the newest hockey pup. (He’s friends with Vegas Golden Knights superfan Bark-Andre Furry.)

Ottawa is currently in eighth place in the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division with 35 points on the season and a record of 15-23-5 through the first half of the season. There’s still time to turn things around.

For Senators news, follow SenShot, the FanSided site for all things relating specifically to Ottawa hockey.

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