Rubber puckie, you're the one!

As I write this, the New York Rangers and the New Jersey Devils have fought their way to a 3-3 tie in the first round of the NHL playoffs. I have no dog in this fight -- never followed hockey, and I have dear friends who love each team and hate the other team with the heat of the sun -- but from what I've seen, whichever team wins Game Seven deserves to go on to win the Cup. Either team would qualify under Lord Fred's #1 Rule of Ice Hockey, which is that no place that does not get ice in the winter deserves to have an NHL franchise.

And yet all that had nothing to do with why I bought a hockey puck. 

It's a puck for street hockey, or, as the puck also says, "hockey de rue," because otherwise those Quebecois would have no idea what it was. But I, very poor ice skater in the few times I've tried, and even worse on roller skates, have not played anything like hockey since my school days. Even then it was plastic-puck gym mayhem or after-school Nok Hockey or air hockey in the arcade, so none of them really count.

No, I bought this puck because of the World's Most Famous Golden Retriever™, Tucker Budzyn. Tucker, who lives with his son Todd under the auspices of Heckin' Linda and her husband, apparently likes to chew hockey pucks and will steal them from his owner to go play with them. Well, that might be a pain for Dad Budzyn, but there are advantages to a hockey puck as a dog toy. They're very tough, even the "hockey de rue" version, and no more expensive than a dog toy of the same caliber. Maybe cheaper. 

Baby dog Izzy likes to destroy toys, as did Nipper before him, but unlike Nipper he will continue to play with the rags that remain after ripping out all the stuffing. He does like some tougher toys, though, ones that will take a good chomp, and with his estimated bite power of 190 pounds psi, it has to be pretty strong. 

Well, a toy that could take out Gordie Howe's teeth has to rank up there. 

Did the puck pass the acid test? Well, yes. He does like to chomp on it, but it's not his favorite toy. It's not flavored, like a Benebone, and it isn't something he can rend like a chipmunk. But I can tell he likes the texture. He'll gnaw on it for a little to satisfy the bite urge before moving on to something else, like licking my wife's elbow. (He's a fan.)

I can't say he's obsessed, as Tucker is. I'd be willing to bet that Tucker's owner stores his pucks with his skates, and so the extra shoe-odor appeal on the pucks is bound to make them more attractive. Maybe I ought to store Nipper's in the foyer closet for a few days.

One thing that I like about the puck is that it has no squeaker, like so many dog toys. But it would be kind of awesome if it did. Can you imagine a bunch of rugged Canadians engaged in a bruising game of street hockey, only every time they slapped the puck or it bounced off someone's head it made a loud squeak like Ernie's rubber duckie? Comedy gold, man.