The Story Behind Bark Madness

When the LA Kings traded for Dion Phaneuf and Nate Thompson in mid-February, their hockey skills and how they fit with the team weren't the primary concern to the founder of The Royal Half blog.
"Literally every trade that has happened over the last four years, my first tweet to the Kings account is 'yeah, but does he have a dog?'" he said.
"I'm not even kidding. The minute Phaneuf got traded, I saw not only did both he and his wife have tons of photos of Pearl Phaneuf, but that there was a
Pearl Phaneuf dedicated account
on Instagram. I was like 'this is a home run trade.'"

This had a lot to do with Bark Madness, an NCAA basketball tournament style competition between Kings players' dogs that started on The Royal Half in 2015 and has since gone more mainstream onto LAKings.com. It has also been featured on Fox Sports West.
This year, you can
vote here
for your favorite players' dogs. Past winners were Gustl Kopitar, Emma Pearson and Arlo Dowd. Each round will run as follows:
"I'm obsessed with my dog, it doesn't matter if you're the President or Drew Doughty. If you're a dog person, you obsess over them," said The Royal Half blog creator whose pen name is 'The Royal Half.' As Kings fans, "We always look for those moments that we get to say, 'they're just like us.' Sure, Anze Kopitar is like the best center of his generation, but he loves his dog just like I love my dog. So I think it's a great way for the fans to connect with the players both through their local team and across the NHL."

The idea for Bark Madness began to percolate long before the first blog post about it in 2015. Bloggers for The Royal Half site started to see players share more of their lives on Instagram and Twitter and a lot of posts had to do with dogs.
"As the players felt more comfortable posting a little bit of their personal lives on social media, we jumped on the opportunity… the thing that was so great about the blog when it was active was] we never really covered the game. We kind of always covered the stuff around the game," The Royal Half said. "We were obsessed with the Kings players' dogs, both on the blog and on Twitter in like 2013 and '14."
On March 16 of 2015, a blogger with the pen name 'Flubber McGee' wrote the
[first Bark Madness post
and the idea then quickly took off. In 2016, Bark Madness moved to LAKings.com and was featured on Fox Sports West. By 2017, Bark Madness was
sponsored by Zignature.
Watch: Youtube Video
"My mom called me and was like 'were they just talking about Bark Madness from your blog on Fox Sports West?' That was the moment it definitely hit me, where I was like 'this is like a thing now,'" The Royal Half said.
As Bark Madness continued to grow, players' wives, girlfriends and fiancées got into it by helping The Royal Half source material and, while at it, trying to get more votes for their significant others' dogs.
"We all love our dogs very much so it's funny to see them have their moment," said Tyler Toffoli's fiancée Cat Belanger. "We got super into it last year on social media, because it's a light and fun competition. I personally love seeing all of the cute and hilarious things Kings fans say about all of them. It's a nice little break from how intense the season can get."

Bark Madness isn't just a fun, interactive event for Kings fans. It also brings awareness to some important animal-related causes pushed by players' family members. Jeff Carter's wife, Megan, works with the charity
Wags and Walks
, which helped 740 dogs become adopted to loving homes in 2017. Jake Muzzin's wife, Courtney, works with
Sunny Saints
, a St. Bernard rescue organization.
"Why not do a good thing and help some dogs out," Jake Muzzin said. "I enjoy it. I think a lot of other people do. It's a rewarding process. Some of the dogs we get are pretty rough and they've been on the street and they've been beaten or come from a bad situation and when you can help and give it a second chance at life, it's a rewarding process."
More than anything, Bark Madness is a celebration of dogs and the relationships a lot of hockey players have with their pets. Beyond being loving companions, many are important in helping get them through the emotional roller coaster of a hockey season.
"I think generally they're fun to be around. They're happy to see you no matter what," said Thompson who has two dogs, a miniature golden doodle and a yellow lab. "I think during the course of a long season when there's ups and downs and if you go home to a dog wagging its tail at you, it's always going to put you in a good mood."
Instagram from @nthompson44: Monday Funday #photogenicdogs
After all, dogs are a man's best friend.