9 names from the hockey world made for National Dog Day

Twitter has been consumed by good boys all day Saturday as part of #NationalDogDay, so that got us thinking: Who among hockey circles is most aptly named for the occasion?

From current players to NHL alumni, and even mascots, here are nine figures in hockey whose names or nicknames are perfect for this canine celebration:

Aleksander Barkov

The Florida Panthers forward is clearly the best current player on this list, and even though he has a very appropriate name for this social media holiday, he certainly doesn't dog it out on the ice.

Jay Beagle

The Washington Capitals center is another active player whose family name was made for the day.

He may not be the most offensively gifted forward in the league, but he does have a nose for the puck, and that helped him post career-highs in goals and assists this past season.

Lindy Ruff

The New York Rangers assistant coach's place in this exclusive group is pretty self-explanatory. Formerly the bench boss of the Buffalo Sabres and Dallas Stars, he's been known to be a little Ruff - err, rough - on his players in the past.

Cam Barker

The third overall pick by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2004 was a bust in North America, but at 31 years old he's still plying his trade in the KHL, where he's played for the last four seasons.

He won three gold medals with Canada - two at the World Junior Hockey Championships and one at the Spengler Cup - so fortunately for him, his inclusion on this list won't be his only claim to fame.

Curtis Joseph

The former star goaltender, who played most prominently for the St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers, and Toronto Maple Leafs, doesn't immediately appear to warrant inclusion here.

That is until you remember his nickname, "CuJo", which was obviously inspired by his first and last name, but which also invoked memories of the title antagonist from the Stephen King novel and 1983 horror film.

Joseph embraced the canine connection and featured a dog on many of his masks.

Ray Sheppard

Sure, it's not spelled exactly like the German shepherd his name conjures up in this context, but the longtime NHL winger's moniker is close enough.

Duane 'Dog' Sutter

A prominent member of the famed Sutter family, the three-time Stanley Cup champion earned his nickname because of his penchant for barking at opposing players and officials during games.

'Pup'

Brent Sutter was given this nickname because he was Duane's younger brother, but he carved out a solid career in his own right.

Brent played with Duane during the New York Islanders' heyday in the 1980s and later coached the Canadian world junior team to back-to-back gold medal victories in 2005 and 2006.

Harvey the Hound

We'd be remiss if we didn't include the Calgary Flames' mascot, who also got some love from his team's Twitter account earlier in the day.

Happy #NationalDogDay pic.twitter.com/T3NiRZRhDd

- Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) August 26, 2017

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)

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