The Utah Hockey Club got a dog — a 13-week-old puppy named Archie

KEARNS — A small black Labrador puppy looked a bit confused Monday morning at the Utah Olympic Oval.

Players surrounded the little dog as they did 22 pushups in partnership with the "22 in 22 Challenge," an event created to raise awareness for the military suicide crisis.

At first, the cute pup sat patiently, only curiously glancing around at the players. Then, his puppy instincts soon took over.

The black lab waddled over to Utah goalkeeper Karel Vejmelka and began playfully trying to lick his face as Vejmelka finished up the pushups. The puppy then bounced over various arms, drawing laughs and smiles as he walked through the team.

Meet your favorite member of the Utah Hockey Club: Archie, the team's new puppy.

The 13-week-old black Labrador Retriever is the official dog of the Utah Hockey Club. The team partnered with America's VetDogs — a nonprofit that provides service dogs to veterans and first responders — and will help raise Archie over the next 14-16 months.

"I don't think anyone in the room doesn't like dogs around," forward Nick Bjugstad said. "Everyone's trying to pet it. It's nice to have a little something different in the room."

Archie will appear at community events, select home games, and spend plenty of time at the team's facility at the Utah Olympic Oval as he prepares for life as a service dog. The public can meet Archie on Nov. 15 at the Delta Center when Utah faces the Vegas Golden Knights via a meet-and-greet on the main concourse.

The puppy arrived in Utah last month, and the first time he waddled on the ice — slowly walking over the slippery surface as he collected treats — the team was hooked.

And who wouldn't be? The puppy-dog eyes, his huge puppy paws … we may be editorializing here, but Archie is perfect.

"Archie will become a beloved part of the club, and we are deeply grateful to both Utah Hockey Club and America First Credit Union for their unwavering support of our organization, as well as their commitment to serving our nation's veterans and first responders," said John Miller, president and CEO of America's VetDogs.

During his time in Utah, Archie will work on basic commands and social skills to be ready for his formal service dog training at America's VetDogs campus in Smithtown, New York. Following the formal training, he will be placed with a veteran or disabled first responder free of charge.

Until then, he'll be a mini mascot for the team.

"Our team puppy is really cute, too. She comes around and brings a smile to people's faces, so it's fun," Alex Kerfoot said.

Especially for a team full of dog lovers.

Bjugstad rescued a Shih Tzu Maltese named Milo when he was playing in Florida; Kerfoot surprised his wife with Coconut, a mini Australian Labradoodle, for Christmas in 2019; Lawson Crouse's French Bulldog has its own Instagram account.

There are plenty more, too, including head coach André Tourigny.

Last year, he was at the arena when his wife sent him a picture of a Cavalier Bichon with a message: "It's so cute. I want to bring him home."

"I thought, 'Here we go, I guess we're getting a dog.' And that's exactly what happened," Tourigny said with a smile. "The next day, we had a dog."

And now his team does, too.

It brought some joy to a team that has been in the midst of some struggles. The team has lost seven of its last nine games (two of which were overtime defeats) heading into Wednesday's game against Carolina. Utah's four-game road trip ended on a sour note, too, with the team falling 4-0 in Nashville.

But the team is using a three-day break to try and reset.

"You don't get too many times throughout the year where you have three days in a row without games," Kerfoot said. "So it's a good mental reset for us coming back home after a long trip."

Getting to be with a cute puppy didn't hurt, either.

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