Connor McDavid's dog Lenny DNFs in Edmonton Oilers' Ruff Ruff relay, gets dethroned by Cody Ceci's Hugo

Modified Jan 05, 2024 06:47 GMT

Lenny McDavid, Connor McDavid's dog, surprised a sold-out crowd at Rogers Place on Thursday after being disqualified during the Edmonton Oilers' annual skills competition presented by Rogers.

The Oilers host their annual skills competition, which also includes the highly anticipated Ruff Ruff Relay, involving players' dogs demonstrating their skills by sprinting on the ice to clock the best timing.

Cody Ceci stole the show at this year's competition, winning two events. The 30-year-old defenseman first won the hardest shot event, with a speed of 102.9 mph. He then led his dog, Hugo, to triumph in this year's Ruff Ruff Relay (7.109 seconds).

Hugo beat Connor McDavid's dog and the defending Ruff Ruff Relay champion, Lenny McDavid. Lenny had a strong start, and given that, everyone at Rogers Place expected him to defend his title.

To everyone's surprise, though, Connor McDavid's dog made an unexpected U-turn before disappearing back down the Zamboni for a disqualification.

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Other players to win the skill competition include Ryan McLeod (fastest skater), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (bullseye battle) and Team Blue (puck pong).

Connor McDavid makes his way onto the 2024 NHL All-Star roster

The National Hockey League announced the group of 32 players who will be playing the 2024 All-Star Game at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. The All-Star runs from Feb. 1-3.

Also Read: NHL All-Star selections 2024: Complete list of players selected from each team for Toronto All-Star Game

McDavid was one of the most notable No. 1 picks selected by the NHL for the All-Star game. The 26-year-old was drafted No. 1 overall by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2015 draft. McDavid will mark his seventh appearance in the All-Star event next month.

Apart from him, Sidney Crosby, Rasmus Dahlin, Nathan MacKinnon, Jack Hughes and Auston Matthews are among the other notable first-overall picks to be selected for the All-Star.

Meanwhile, Connor Bedard, the No. 1 pick for the Chicago Blackhawks at the 2023 draft, became the youngest player in league history to be selected for the All-Star event.