The dogs of the Columbus Blue Jackets

For a team that’s often considered a group of NHL underdogs themselves, it makes sense that a lot of the players and coaches are dog owners.

Puppy love runs deep through the CBJ organization, with John Tortorella’s foundation supporting several animal welfare groups and the players and coaches themselves owning dogs of all shapes and sizes.

I pulled this handy depth chart from a January Dispatch article by Allison Ward that is a succinct round-up of all the cuteness on the team:

The Columbus Dispatch

The Jackets also do a yearly event with Columbus Humane, where they play with puppies while answering questions from fans. I mean, Alexander Wennberg and a bunch of cute puppies? Give me a break.

Here’s the full video:

During an extended stint on IR this season, Ryan Murray also turned to the comfort and support that puppies provide by adopting one of his own - an Australian shepherd named Jake. Jeff Svoboda did a nice write-up on it, which you can read here:

The team also went on a dog-sledding trip this winter while in Canada, which looked like tons of fun:

Here are just a few of the cuties on the team - unranked, in no particular order, because I’m not here to pit any queens against each other - just here to revel in their cuteness.

Cute! Do you have a favorite? Which player is going to adopt a dog next? My guess is Boone Jenner.