Editor's Note: Sheng Peng will be a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and follow him on Twitter at @Sheng_Peng.
You know who doesn’t care if you win or lose?
“In 2016, we lost against Pittsburgh in the Finals. I was so upset. I got a puck in the throat, had to go to the hospital,” Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic said. “Came home and Kelly's right there and just jumping, and you forget about everything once you go home.”
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Kelly, the veteran blueliner’s first dog, passed away in 2020.
This Christmas, let’s celebrate our furry friends who love us unconditionally. Presenting the dogs of the San Jose Sharks!
In order of seniority on the team, Logan Couture spoke about Willa and Ernie, Kevin Labanc about Nala, Mario Ferraro about Wilder, Alexander Barabanov about Bim, Luke Kunin about Rocco, Matt Benning about Moose, Jacob MacDonald about Jaxx, Nikita Okhotiuk about Philipp, Mackenzie Blackwood about Benna and Valko, Kyle Burroughs about Sadie and Aullie, Givani Smith about Zola, Filip Zadina about Jack, Mikael Granlund about Rafa, and Mike Hoffman about Murphy and Maui.
Logan Couture: Willa and Ernie
San Jose Sharks
"Willa's older — one year older. She's ... just turned three. She's half-Shih Tzu, half-Bichon. Ernie is half-Havanese, half-Shih Tzu. Both small, so we can fit them underneath the seats on the plane, so they're with us.
"They're great travelers. Ernie gets motion sickness, so he throws up in the car, but they're great travelers."
Couture on their names:
"Ernie was my wife's choice. [Brielle] wanted Bert and Ernie — she wanted a third dog, but we got a kid instead.
"Willa was always kind of a name that we just chose. There were like five that we're picking from. We read them online, and they're already pre-named."
Couture on Willa and Ernie sharing an Instagram account:
"It's my wife's idea. I don't even think I know the password. I'm sure I could guess it, but yeah, I see a post every once in a while. They're cute dogs.
"My wife's sister [Jessica] has a dog, Peeko, who is over quite a bit. Most of the time, we got three dogs at the house. It's fun."
Kevin Labanc: Nala
"My wife [Kelly] brought it home from Canada. She's a German Shepherd, and she's a great dog. Her name is Nala, like from The Lion King."
"She's part of the family, she's a great dog. She listens, she's super-obedient, and she's a man's best friend. She's 9 -- she's getting up there. German Shepherds, their hips kind of start wilting away around that age. She needs some medicine, but she's doing good."
Mario Ferraro: Wilder
"Me and McKenna, my girlfriend, we got Wilder in March or February or so at about two months. He’s a German Shepherd, long hair, all black.
"I’ve never had a dog before, so it’s a little bit of an adjustment. He’s a big dog, very high energy. It is nice, but it’s a sense of responsibility that me and McKenna both enjoy.
"We love him, he’s a cute dog, and we’re trying to train him and get him a little more dialed in — working on him listening with recall and stuff like that because he’s a bigger dog.
"I ran into a couple instances where he ran over to other people and they were maybe scared for a second, but I’m like, 'No, no, he’s very gentle, he’s a nice dog.' He’s a great dog. We got really lucky.
"Wilder -- McKenna came up with that name. I feel like it kind of stuck. He’s not really that wild -- he’s pretty tame, pretty chill, so it kind of works out. He’s a good dog. It’s pretty badass. I like it.
"It was more so McKenna who always had dogs, so she really wanted one. My aunt, she moved away for half a year, so we took care of her dog when I was about 15, 14 or so, maybe younger. His name was Hunter, and he was a little wiener dog, but he was really cute, and I enjoyed having him around.
"I knew that I would like having a dog around. They’re really affectionate and make you feel good when you come home -- they always say hi. They’re never mad at you, which is nice, it’s a really good feeling.
"They’re always in a good mood. You can have your arguments with your partner here and there, but your dog’s always going to love you, even if you’re mad at him sometimes. It’s a good feeling."
Alexander Barabanov: Bim
Barabanov has had Bim, a 9-year-old Maltese, since he was a puppy. He’s named after the canine hero from classic Soviet book and movie “White Bim Black Ear.”
Luke Kunin: Rocco
"My wife and I just picked that [name], few years back. I always liked the Rocky movies, so I just kind of -- I don't know if that's why, but it just works for him. He's a little 30-pound, muscular, goofy little guy. I love him more than anything.
"I say that's why we named Rocco that, but Sophia doesn't think that's why we named him that. She just likes the name.
Kunin, on how he and wife, both pro hockey players, balance being away from Rocco:
"Right now he's back in Minnesota with [Sophia], so that's tough, obviously. At least he's with one of us, so it makes it easier. Now that she's drafted to Minnesota, obviously, he doesn't have to move. So it's good for him. Definitely miss him, so that's tough."
Kunin’s favorite Rocky movie?
"Probably Rocky IV.”
Matt Benning: Moose
"When I was playing in Edmonton -- I think it was after my second year -- we're big dog people in our family. We've always had dogs, always had labs. We found a breeder 45 minutes outside of Edmonton, and went and picked him up after the season for my birthday as a birthday gift."
Benning on why Moose as a name:
"That's a good question -- I don't know. We were just kind of flip-flopping names.
"When we went to the breeder, Moose's dad was a really big dog. He was competitive, and I guess there's a jumping off of docks into water competition.
"We came up with a couple of names, but we liked Moose, and just kind of went with it from there.
Is Moose a big water dog?
"He loves the water. He's always in there."
Jacob MacDonald: Jaxx
"He's like a Lab mix. I don't know for sure, but he's got some Pitbull and some Boxer, probably. That's our guess, but we don't know."
Why Jaxx?
"He's got a yellow coat. When we adopted him, his name was Looper, but it just wasn't fitting. We took a couple of days and were thinking about it.
"It was like two, three days into COVID when we got him. We were hanging out with our teammates at the time, and one of them said that he has the same hair as Jax Teller from "Sons of Anarchy." He's like kind of a badass character, and Jax is really built -- he's got a lot of muscle tone. That was kind of the thought process. We were doing something stupid -- we did two X's to it."
MacDonald, on rescuing a dog during COVID:
"The season shut down on Thursday. [Stef's] like, 'Oh, let's go look at a dog,' and I'm like, 'Yeah, sure, let's go.'
"Fostering one was what she was trying to say, and I'm like, "We're going to screw around here and adopt the dog, for sure.
"Two hours later, we had him. It was the best impulse decision ever."
Nikita Okhotiuk: Philipp
Okhotiuk, on getting Goldendoodle Philipp spontaneously one day:
"We got him in the U.S. in Rochester -- not far from Buffalo when I played in New Jersey. I'll tell you the whole story of how we got the dog.
"First off, my wife was my girlfriend at the time. She's saying, like, 'I want to get a dog one day.' I'm like, 'OK, I like dogs.'
"We were sitting in nice weather, it's sunny, and I'm like, 'OK, let's go see dogs and play with them.' We went -- it was two hours away from us, we drove there. We were there for a bit.
"She's like 'OK, let's go home.' I'm like, 'We're not going without a dog, so you bring a dog with us.' She was like, 'What?' She wasn't ready. She was afraid, you know? I was like, 'We'll take him.'
"The first dog they brought us, we fell in love. That was our dog. He was energized and everything. Everything [about] him, we liked. I'm like, 'I'm not leaving without him.' So we picked him up, and it was getting late, too. The next day, we had a game.
"We came home around 11 p.m. He never woke us up. We wake up in the morning early -- I have to like bring him outside for the bathroom. I played the game and got like three points."
Okhotiuk on how he misses Philipp:
"We'd travel with him. Travel isn't easy with him. We decided this year, he's staying back home with my parents back in Russia. We miss him."
Okhotiuk on why that name:
"I don't know, we just liked it."
Mackenzie Blackwood" Benna & Valko
Blackwood, on his German Shepherds, who are both on his mask:
"[All-black female Benna and Sable male Valko is] from a German breeder. They just gave them names, and I liked it, so I kept it."
"They gave them those names -- we picked them up at three months old, and they already knew their names.
"The dogs' parents are from Germany. Their lineage is actual German Shepherd. The papers that they came with when you picked them up go back like 30 dogs."
Kyle Burroughs: Sadie and Aullie
"I've got two. They're both rescues.
"I got my first one when I was playing in Bridgeport -- my roommate was Ryan Pulock. His girlfriend at the time [had] kind of like a halfway house for rescue dogs because they had a big heated barn. They could shelter them before they went to the SPCA.
"The dog that originally that I was trying to get -- they named like a puppy litter that they got in -- they named Kyle. I was trying to jump for Kyle for the longest time. Since he was already in their system, they couldn't let him cross the border because he's too young.
"But my dog now, Sadie, she was very skinny. She was living actually with Paige, who was Ryan's girlfriend at the time, in the house. She said, 'Hey, this dog is not registered with the SPCA yet. Would you be interested in adopting her?' And I said, 'Of course.'
"Sadie is a [brown] mix -- she's probably a mix of like six different types. Lab, a little Boxer, three types of Mastiff. I'm sure there's a couple more that I'm missing in there, and I'm probably going to get in trouble with my fiancée for it. She moved to Connecticut with me then, and she's been with me ever since. She's 7 now."
Burroughs on why Sadie as a name:
"I don't know, I just picked it. We always had dogs growing up, and I think when I was getting older, I kind of realized that I would like to have one of my own, so I just had a list of names for them. Sadie was just, when I saw her face, it just matched up. It was cute like that."
Burroughs on Aullie:
"Our other guy, he's 2. He's a Manitoba rescue. His name is Aullie. He is a [black] Australian Cattle Dog, Shepherd, a little bit of a Pit, a little bit of -- I forget the name -- it's like a very little, miniature dog. We just wanted something different, we don't spell it the normal way.
"We just liked the name. This is Aullie's first time away from Vancouver because he was lucky enough, when we adopted him, we stayed at home and lived in Vancouver. He's a traveling dog now like Sadie -- she's been up and down everywhere.
"He's getting to experience San Jose, and he's loving it so far."
Givani Smith: Zola
"Zola [American Bulldog], she's a girl. It's a Greek name.
"I was looking for names that roll off the tongue. It rolls off the tongue, and I think it's a name where it's a pretty strong name. I call her and she'll hear it when she's like, 500 feet away. It means 'Earth' in Greek.
"She's a rescue. I got her last summer, in or around June.
"She's a year and a half, almost two years. She's very loving. A good dog, sweet dog. I trained her, got her pretty well trained, so she's very well-mannered.
"I think Zola stood out because of her demeanor, the way she carried herself. That's what I wanted, for sure. She was just excited -- excited for food, excited to just run around and do anything."
Filip Zadina: Jack
"It's a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. It's like a smaller breed. He turned 1 year a [couple months] ago or something -- he's a 1-year baby.
"We were trying to find a name for the dog -- my girlfriend's sister, she all of a sudden said the name Jack when we were looking for the name, and we were like, 'Why not? It's a pretty good name.'
"My girlfriend [Michaela] had a dog for a long time, and I never had a dog -- and I've always wanted a dog. We kind of decided last year that we'll just get a dog.
"We wanted this breed because Filip Hronek -- from when we played together in Detroit -- he has said this breed is one of the best dogs for people and for the kids. They're such a nice breed."
Mikael Granlund: Rafa
Granlund’s French Bulldog is 6, and, yes, named after Rafael Nadal. Granlund is a big tennis fan.
Mike Hoffman: Murphy and Maui
"They're both French Bulldogs. Murphy is 12 and Maui is 7-and-a-half. I've had them since they were 8 weeks old."
Hoffman on his affinity for French Bulldogs:
"My roommate in the American League when I was 20 -- Robin Lehner, actually -- got a French Bulldog then, and I've never seen or heard of the breed before that. Just spending time with it, I thought they were hilarious and a good size to be moving around.
"I just thought they were super funny. They're cuddly, just exactly what you're looking for with a dog."
Hoffman on why Murphy (on the left) and Maui (on the right) as names:
"My wife picked both of them. I'm Mike, she's Monika, so we kept the "M." Murphy was just the name that she liked, and then Maui, Hawaii -- another area that she liked as well.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Vlasic doesn’t have any dogs right now, but the renowned dog lover wanted to highlight some of his favorite animal rescues:
Southern California Golden Retriever Rescue
Southwest Oasis Labrador Rescue
Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue
Special thanks to Maddie Dutra for her help transcribing.