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Vancouver Canucks Top Dog Race with players’ dogs a winner

ByWesley Coburn|
VANCOUVER, BC - FEBRUARY 28: Goaltender Darcy Kuemper #35 of the Minnesota Wild makes a save against Zack Kassian #9 of the Vancouver Canucks during the second period of their NHL game at Rogers Arena on February 28, 2014 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Ben Nelms/Getty Images)
VANCOUVER, BC - FEBRUARY 28: Goaltender Darcy Kuemper #35 of the Minnesota Wild makes a save against Zack Kassian #9 of the Vancouver Canucks during the second period of their NHL game at Rogers Arena on February 28, 2014 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Ben Nelms/Getty Images)

The Vancouver Canucks Top Dog Race brightened a tough loss on Wednesday night.

The Vancouver Canucks Top Dog Race was held Wednesday night, February 19, during the second intermission of their game against the Minnesota Wild, which brightened the night for home fans at Rogers Arena as the Wild left the building with a 4-3 shootout win.

Thankfully for the fans of hockey dogs who were not in the arena, Vancouver posted the video of the event to their team website, which featured six lanes digitally painted onto the ice stretch from the goal line to the opposite blue line (roughly two-thirds of the rink, or about 150 feet, for those not familiar with hockey).

The team later shared the video on their Twitter feed as well, after running a pre-race prediction video from the dogs’ owners earlier in the day.

Competing were No. 53 Gus the French Bulldog (team captain and center Bo Horvat), No. 70 mixed breed Emma (left wing Tanner Pearson), No. 4 Lilli the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (defenseman Jordie Benn), No. 8 Riley the Pug (defenseman and alternate captain Christopher Tanev), No. 51 Phoebe the Bernese Mountain Dog (defenseman Troy Stecher) and No.. 88 mixed breed Zeus (center Adam Gaudette).

Each dog wore their dads’ jersey during the race, which was a nice touch, and a Top Gun-inspired logo was used, which while cool seems a little iffy in its legality when it comes to copyright issues.

According to the pre-race introductions, Gus can’t swim, Emma loves to chase squirrels, and Lilli was a rescue dog from the Dallas SPCA, Zeus was born in Boston, and British Columbia native Phoebe loves chewing on the sticks she finds in the park. When it comes to pre-game meals, Emma loves to eat green beans, while Riley enjoys snacking on bell peppers.

“The event went really well, we’ve never seen so many fans stay in their seats for an intermission activation,” Olivia McDonald, part of the Canucks’ Game Entertainment team, said in an email to Dog O’Day. “We saw other teams had put on a dog race before but we wanted to go above and beyond for it.”

After a close race that needed replay to determine the winner, Emma became the first champ of the Vancouver Canucks Top Dog Race, in what the team hopes will become an annual event.

The Canucks are currently tied for second in the Western Conference Pacific Division with the Golden Knights with 70 points and a record of 32 wins, 22 losses and six overtime losses through 60 games in the 2019-20 season.

For more on Vancouver hockey within the FanSided Network, check out our sister sites The Canuck Way and Puck Prose.

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