Aston-Reese sad to leave Italian greyhound puppy, Carl, for Qualifiers
Dog is budding social media star, will be living with Penguins forward's parents
ByWes Crosby
NHL.com Independent Correspondent
Zach Aston-Reese might have a difficult time parting with one of his best friends when the Pittsburgh Penguins travel to Toronto for the Stanley Cup Qualifiers.
The forward will leave his Italian greyhound, Carl, with his parents as he and the Penguins get ready to face the Montreal Canadiens in a best-of-5 qualifier series starting Aug. 1 at Scotiabank Arena.
"It's definitely going to be a little bit tough,"
Aston-Reese on leaving Carl the Iggy 😭: "It's definitely going to be tough. On Saturday I'm going to drive half way and my parents are going to drive half way and they're going to take him back to New York for hopefully the next 2-3 months." pic.twitter.com/f4N2tZUXuA
after the Penguins practiced Sunday. "My parents are going to drive half way and I'm going to drive half way. I'm going to meet them between here and New York. They're going to pick him up and take him back to New York for the time being."
After the regular season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus, Aston-Reese took Carl to quarantine with Penguins forward Bryan Rust, his wife Kelsey and their two mini golden retrievers, Cooper and Oliver, at Rust's home.
) that has almost 3,000 followers. The posts on the page include a picture of Carl looking out on downtown Pittsburgh from a window and a video of Carl struggling to climb onto a couch.
