Happy Valentine’s Day!
Don’t forget your (furry) loved ones today.
Meet the dogs of the San Jose Sharks!
This is usually a Christmas story at San Jose Hockey Now — Marc-Edouard Vlasic introduced his favorite rescues in 2022, we started meeting the dogs of the San Jose Sharks in 2023, and we met Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith’s dogs in 2024 — but it took a while to track down pics this season.
It was worth the wait though!
Get to know Tyler Toffoli’s new dog, Stella! Rookie Sam Dickinson introduces us to Arnold Palmer. Adam Gaudette shows us Stella and Zeus, John Klingberg talks Ebba, we dig up an old pic of Zack Ostapchuk with Stewie, and Alex Nedeljkovic parades Zeke and Brady.
Finally, Dmitry Orlov gets in on the fun, with his cat Joy!
Learn how the San Jose Sharks players got their pets and how they came up with their names.
Make sure you support animal rescues like San Jose Animal Care Center, Silicon Valley Pet Project, and Pets in Need. San Jose Animal Care Center is close to Sharks Ice, Silicon Valley Pet Project serves dogs with special medical or behavioral needs, and Palo Alto’s Pets in Need just celebrated its 60th anniversary.
Also, support Joybound, where I rescued Mushu (or Mushu rescued me) five years ago.
Adam Gaudette: Stella & Zeus
“We have two of them. They’re back home, it’s just a lot to take them out here with both kids, and our in-laws live two minutes away from our house, so they’re basically home all the time.
“They’re Malkies—Maltese-Yorkies—they’re mutts. Small dogs, one’s, like, 20 pounds, one’s, like, 14 or something.
“We’ve had them for 7 and 8 years, or 8 or 9, something like that. We’ve had them for a while. We’d been married for five years in June.
“My wife had Stella, she got her a year before we met, and then three months into dating, we bought Zeus—he was like the runt of the litter, $200, and he’s special.
“We got Zeus in Brockton, Massachusetts…It’s close to where I grew up. I was really into Greek mythology at that point, so I was like ‘We gotta name him Zeus,’ and my wife was like, ‘Alright, fine.’
“Stella was named after Stella Artois. Her dad’s a bar owner, she named Stella after the beer.”
Zeus
Stella
John Klingberg: Ebba
“My dog is 9 years old, she’s a Chocolate Lab named Ebba. It’s a Swedish name and something that me and my wife thought was cute. If we didn’t name our dog that, we probably would have named our daughter that. I think it’s a pretty common Swedish name, and it was just a name that we liked.
“We got her when we were in Dallas, so she’s American. She was born in Oklahoma, but they drove her to Dallas in Texas when she was eight weeks old. She’s a full-breed Chocolate Lab. She’s 9 years old, but she’s very healthy and has a lot of energy. It’s great, she’s such a great family dog, she’s so nice.
“We have two daughters running around back home, almost 5 and 3 years old. They’re pulling on her tail and throwing toys and stuff at her. She loves it, she plays with them too, barks at them and stuff like that—in a good way. She’s been a great addition to our family.”
Alex Nedeljkovic: Zeke & Brady
“We got a Black Lab named Zeke, he’s 6 years old, and a Golden Retriever named Brady, he’s 3.
“I liked the name Ezekiel a lot at first, I thought it was different and cool, and then I just shortened it up to Zeke.
“Brady came from another football name. We thought Zeke like Zeke Elliot and then Brady like Tom Brady. We liked Brady, and then it worked out being with TB12.
“We got Zeke when I played in Charlotte. There’s a nonprofit organization called Project2Heal, they breed Labs to become service dogs for disabled veterans. I got really close with a former owner and he would bring litters to the rink and throw them on the ice and get them in the locker room, so I got close with him. He ran everything out of their basement at the house. I went there a bunch of times and saw dogs.
“My wife actually held a two-minute old newborn pup in her hands the one day we were fortunate enough to be there when one of the dogs was giving birth. We got to do a whole bunch of stuff with them.
“Growing up, my grandma had a Yellow Lab, so I love dogs and always wanted one. He was very kind enough to allow us to adopt Zeke, and it’s been awesome.
“Brady was just looking at another one to try to give Zeke a little brother to mess around with and stuff, and I think she had wanted a Golden, so we just looked around and found a good breeder and brought Brady home.
“I actually left three days before we were supposed to get him, I went to Worlds that year, and I let her bring home a newborn pup. It worked out, though—I got home, and he was potty-trained.”
Zach Ostapchuk: Stewie
“My dog’s name is Stewie, he’s a little Morkie—it’s a Maltese-Yorkie. He was supposed to be, like, 10 pounds, but he’s more like 30. He lives with my mom.
“I was a big Family Guy fan at the time. At the time, I was watching a lot of Family Guy. Stewie was my favourite character, so I named him Stewie. We got him in Red Deer, so we drove like an hour and a half to get him.
“My old dog had actually just passed away—this was before we got Stewie—me and that dog never really got along. My mom said we’re not getting another dog for a while, but she lasted about a week and we went and got one. He’s got to be 7 or 8 now.”
Kiefer Sherwood
We’ll chat with Sherwood about his dog after the Olympic break!
Tyler Toffoli: Stella
“Her name’s Stella. We got her in the summer, Cat found her somewhere. We got her, and it’s been a lot of fun. She’s a Yorkie. Like I said, she’s been a lot of fun, and has a lot of energy. It’s always nice to come home—when she’s all excited, it makes you feel a lot better, regardless of what’s going on that day.”
Sam Dickinson: Arnold Palmer
“He goes by Arnie or Mr. P as well. My dad didn’t want a dog, and the agreement was we could get a dog if he got to name it. It’s the same thing as our cats, so he’s gotten to name every animal in the house. They’re named after two golf courses that he likes. Tiny English Goldendoodle, he’s like 20 pounds, maybe? I think he’s turning 10 soon, he’s getting up there. We’ve had him for a while.”
(Sam says there are no pictures of Mr. P around…sad face emoji)
Dmitry Orlov: Joy
“His name is Joy. It’s just his name, he was born with this name, and we never changed it—it’s actually a perfect name for him. He always brings joy into our life, and he’s always fun.
“We got him back home in Russia and he flew to us after 6 months, and since then, he’s always with us. It was actually kind of a secret present for our family from my wife. She got it as a secret.
“We were thinking about getting a dog at the time, but we didn’t like what we saw, and then we started thinking about cats, and my wife kind of just got one. One morning I wake up, she’s not sleeping, I wonder what’s going on, and I go into the other room and she’s playing with the cat. He was so small, it was pretty cool. He was a little scared and everything, but he’s gotten older already. He’s 11 years old right now.”
Special thanks to San Jose Sharks PR and Maddie Dutra for their help with this story!