The Vancouver Canucks took off on Tuesday, flying into Edmonton a day early in preparation for their season opener on Wednesday against the Edmonton Oilers.
The team was joined on the tarmac by the youngest member of the Canucks.
No, not 20-year-old Danila Klimovich, who is only on the roster for salary cap compliance purposes. The youngest member of the team is a lot younger — think in terms of months, rather than years.
It was Ryp, the Canucks' new team pup, that saw the players off at the airport and the players immediately gravitated to the future service dog to give him all the cuddles and kisses they could manage before they had to board their plane.
Brock Boeser, who has two dogs named Milo and Coolie, took to Ryp right away and then tried to take Ryp away, joking, "All right, see you guys," as he started to walk off with Ryp tucked under his arm.
Boeser isn't the only dog lover on the Canucks, of course, as the team's intermission pup races in recent years have demonstrated. Bo Horvat, for instance, immediately embraced Ryp as much as he does his French Bulldog, Gus.
The Canucks are helping to raise Ryp in a partnership with BC Guide Dogs and an important part of the process is socializing him with people, So, when the Canucks were giving him cuddles and snuggles, they were actually doing extremely important and vital work.
It also got them some sloppy dog kisses.
There are a lot of stressful things in the world right now and even just within Canucks fandom — the start of the season is a bit nerve-wracking. But everyone can appreciate a puppy, which is why this is the sort of thing we need right now.
Canucks fans can hopefully look forward to a lot more Ryp content in the coming months.
