Milwaukee Admirals welcome rink pup Bender

MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Admirals on Tuesday, Feb. 11 welcomed Bender, the team's rink dog.

"Bender's a beauty though," said Daniel Carr, left-wing.

The team's social media manager got him on the team.

"He said to me one day, 'Let's get a dog,' and I was like, 'It's only taken me like, two years to convince you guys,'" said Jaymee Ebbers.

Ebbers reached out to the Humane Animal Welfare Society in Waukesha.

Bender spends nights with Ebbers and days at the office.

"Everyone usually comes into the office in the morning, and the first thing they do now is stop by my office, get a couple of pets in, maybe a little lick, and then they go on their way, and throughout the day, everyone just checks in on him, and comes and plays with him," said Ebbers.

The players have taken a liking to him.

"Couple more wins, boost morale, maybe he can teach some of the guys, myself included, how to stickhandle after his performance out there. He's pretty good with the puck," said Carr.

Bender's addition raised some questions about the Admirals mascot Roscoe.

"They seem to be buds, a little work in progress, you know, old mascot, new mascot," said Ebbers. "It's kind of like when you bring him home to your old dog. It takes a little bit for them to warm up to each other."

"No, I think Roscoe still gets a lot of attention, so he's happy, he's happy," said Carr.