Islanders Take Pictures with Puppies for Pucks and Paws Calendar

There are the dog days of the season - and then there's the puppy day.
The New York Islanders finished practice Thursday and went to play with puppies and guide dogs in training to take pictures for the annual Pucks and Paws 2023 calendar.
The calendar, which is supported by Canidae, will be on sale ahead of the New Year. Calendars will be sold at the Community Relations table at section 109 on game nights, the Islanders Pro Shop at Northwell Health Ice Center and online via newyorkislanders.com.

The dogs to be featured in the calendar come from the Guide Dog Foundation, which is based in Smithtown, and provides guide dogs and training to blind and visually impaired individuals free of charge. It costs over $50,000 to train and raise a guide dog.

Each dog featured in the calendar is in a different stage of its guide dog training, with some young puppies who haven't yet started, to those who have recently been placed with puppy raisers and those who are in for training.
"We have every part of our lifecycle here, so to speak," said Guide Dog Foundation President and CEO John Miller. "It's a great education component for the team, for the staff, and the players just love posing with the pups."
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The Islanders' Puppy with a Purpose, Monte, is a Guide Dog Foundation dog, the third team puppy the Islanders have worked with from the Guide Dog Foundation. Monte will play a featured role in the calendar. Adam Pelech's dog, Duke, was also on set.
"Being at UBS is phenomenal training," Monte's dog raiser Lisa Rossano said. "He learns to ignore things that are on the floor, learns to ignore the people. He learns to stay next to me when there's people coming. The fans could not have been nicer to him. They're so respectful and kind, and he's going to miss them very much when he's gone."

Proceeds from the calendar will go back to the Guide Dog Foundation. The Guide Dog Foundation is also partnering with the Islanders and will be featured as the Hockey with a Heart charity on Dec. 27 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. With every ticket purchased for that game from this link, $5 will go to the Guide Dog Foundation.
For a lot of Islanders, this is one of the most fun charity events of the season, especially the ones that have dogs of their own. Many players hung around after taking their photos just to spend more time playing with the dogs.
"People love it, people always ask me for calendars after we do a puppy shoot, and it's easy for us," Anthony Beauvillier said. "It's just such a little bit of our time to give back to the community."