Nicklas Backstrom

These photos from the Capitals Canine Calendar photoshoot will make you want to adopt every dog on Earth

ARLINGTON, VA — The best day of the Washington Capitals season, in this author’s humble opinion, occurred Monday when Caps players participated in its annual dog calendar photoshoot. Partnering with Homeward Trails Animal Rescue, the boys spent the afternoon posing (and hugging and cuddling) with dogs up for adoption as well as their own pups from home. This year, the Capitals modeled in front of vintage cars or their own vehicles.

While the Homeward Trail dogs stole everyone’s heart (please return it soon please, I’m having trouble functioning), the day started out with an appearance by the Capitals new dog, Captain.

Captain posed in a vintage silver car and wore silly hats, loving the attention he got throughout.

Meanwhile, Capitals players John Carlson, Nic Dowd, TJ Oshie, Alex Ovechkin, Chandler Stephenson, Garnet Hathaway, and Nick Jensen all posed with their own dogs. Tom Wilson, Nicklas Backstrom, Lars Eller, Tyler Lewington, Jakub Vrana, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov, Michal Kempny, Radko Gudas, Carl Hagelin, Richard Panik, Jonas Siegenthaler, Brendan Leipsic, and Ilya Samsonov took their photos with dogs available for adoption through Homeward Trails.

Since the calendar began in 2014, the Caps have raised more than $250,000 for Homeward Trails. A limited number of calendars will be available for $20 beginning Nov. 27 when the Capitals host the Florida Panthers. The calendar will also be sold online and in the team stores at Capital One Arena and MedStar Capitals Iceplex. Details will be announced at a later date.

While the official photos won’t be seen until the release, we hope these adorable photos will tide you over until then.

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