The Washington Capitals introduced us to Captain, their ridiculously adorable new puppy, on October 5, 2019. 48,000 Twitter followers and 26 RMNB stories later, Captain has been voted the NHL’s Best Team Dog in the 2020 Fan Choice Awards.
Captain won with 22 percent of the vote defeating nine other dogs including Montreal’s Flambo (16.4%) and the NY Islanders’ Tori (12.7%).
Full results
Screenshot courtesy of NHL.com
According to the Capitals, Captain was born on July 22.
#TBT to when i was a tiny lil nugget and unaware of how many twitter frens id make 🐾 pic.twitter.com/HEjanBrJjb
— Captain (@CapsPup) October 10, 2019
At ten-weeks-old, the male yellow Labrador made his debut with the team during the team’s Rock the Red Carpet event. Alex Ovechkin cradled Captain in his arms and walked him into Capital One Arena ahead of the team’s home opener against the Carolina Hurricanes on October 5.
Making my debut with @ovi8 !!! pic.twitter.com/sIbmTzGPKE
— Captain (@CapsPup) October 5, 2019
Since then, Captain has stolen fans’ hearts from his interactions with players and fans to his presence in the team’s annual dog calendar.
Photo: Cara Bahniuk/RMNB
Captain will receive basic training and socialization for a total of 14-16 months before returning back to Smithtown, NY to begin his formal service dog training. The Capitals adopted Captain through America’s VetDogs, a New York-based non-profit that provides service dogs to veterans and first responders with disabilities.
Other accolades Captain has won this season include Sports Dog of the Year and a 14/10 rating from WeRateDogs.
Congratulations, Captain. You’re a very very good doggo.
RMNB’s coverage of Captain
- We have a dog now, he is Captain, he is good
- Team puppy Captain steals hearts, kisses players in first-ever Caps game
- A first look at Captain, the Capitals puppy, as a baby
- These photos from the Capitals Canine Calendar photoshoot will make you want to adopt every dog on Earth
- Capitals puppy Captain visits Nationals Park ahead of first World Series game in DC in 86 years
- NHL tweets that Captain, the Capitals puppy, won Hockey Halloween with his costumes
- Captain was very excited to see his best friends again after their season-long road trip
- CBS Evening News does feature on the Capitals’ dog, Captain
- A very good photo of Jakub Vrana getting a smooch from the Capitals puppy, Captain
- The Washington Capitals will help raise another service dog in 2020
- A very good photo of Captain’s first Christmas ornament
- Captain, dressed as Santa, greeted the Capitals, who were wearing ugly holiday suits, pregame
- Capitals holiday video: Captain sings ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ while band of Caps players poorly play instruments
- Alex Ovechkin, Sergei the Elf, and Capitals players wish fans Merry Christmas
- WeRateDogs rates Capitals puppy Captain a ’14/10 an honor to pet’
- Captain’s first snow day ❄️
- Jakub Vrana gave Captain Dumbo ears before the start of practice
- Captain is a big brother now! Meet Scout.
- These before and after photos perfectly illustrate how lörge of a doggo Captain has become
- Sergei Ovechkin met Captain and gave him nice pets
- Capitals’ puppy Captain stars in the ultimutt re-make of The Office
- Nine-month-old Captain celebrates his immense neck rolls
- Captain ‘facetiming’ Alex Ovechkin is great quarantine content
- Captain the Caps Pup needs your help, are you going to let him down? How could you do that to him? He’s a good dog!
Captain’s Zoom
Headline photo: Cara Bahniuk/RMNB
