BARK MADNESS: Sweet 16 - Announcing the Winners!

Wow, what a
truly amazing first week
of Bark Madness 2018 presented by Zignature!
We had over 40,000 votes in the Sweet 16 Bracket as we began to narrow down the competition to find which LA Kings dog is the best dog! (SPOILER: They are ALL the best dogs)
But first, let's check in with the fans across the world and their reaction to the First Round of Bark Madness 2018!

Tweet from @TheKingOfBans: I hate the #LAKings but Kopitar has a gorgeous dog.

If that's being wrong, I don't ever want to be right.
Tweet from @CalebRapoport: The curse of #BarkMadness #LAKings have won ��������playoff game since it was introduced 3 seasons ago.
You know what, who cares what the fans think?
I only care about what celebrities think!

Too bad he didn't
get a part in Reservoir Dogs
.
FYI, you can buy those
LA Kings Dog Shirts here
!

Now, the moment you've been waiting for... which dogs are moving on to the Elite 8! And wow, in the Sweet 16, we witnessed easily one of the biggest upsets by a dog... ever.
!Retrievers
Ok, maybe
the secnd biggest upset by a dog
.

No. 1 ALEC MARTINEZ vs No. 16 ACE BAILEY

I have to be honest, I don't think we've ever seen any election play out like this matchup before. On one paw, you have a campaign that chooses to ignore most of the American fanbase because they are so confident that they will

.
!MartinezVote
While on the other paw, you've got a campaign that is so focused on spreading lies and misinformation, that they are actually able to rally a fanbase and catch their opponent by surprise.

Yes, we've definitely never, ever seen an election like this before.

Nope, never.
And to be clear, the dog that is moving on to the Elite 8... won this matchup by a single vote. So yeah, Alec Martinez, you might have wanted to pump Hank's dog tires on Twitter just a little bit.

HANK: 49.99%
ACE: 50.01%

No. 2 GUSTL KOPITAR vs No. 15 HOWARD STOLL

Coming into Bark Madness 2018, we here at Bark Madness Selection Committee didn't think that Gustl, the most beloved dog in LA Kings history, would have any issue beating the dog of a former player who is now a broadcaster.
But now that the First Round dust has settled, we've been able to assess that this matchup came down to one thing. The celebrity endorsement.
Howard Stoll brought the celebs...

While Gustl Kopitar, winner of Bark Madness 2015, well... um...

In past Bark Madness competitions, Gustl has been able to get
hockey-loving celebrities like Andy Lassner
to help get out the vote for him. But this year, Andy and even Gustl's own Dad didn't tweet their support of Gustl's campaign.

Anze Kopitar's past week of Tweets.

GUSTL: 47%
HOWARD: 53%

No. 3 EMMA PEARSON vs No. 14 BENTLEY ARMSTRONG

Once again, Emma Pearson's winning percentage was in the mid-'70s because... well, you know...

EMMA: 74%
BENTLEY: 26%

No. 4 DODGER TOFFOLI vs No. 13 NIKKI RAE ROBITAILLE

As you can see by now, winning Bark Madness sometimes comes down to who you know. And Dodger Toffoli might be the best-connected person in Hollywood... dog or not!

While Nikki Rae was only able to get

to endorse their campaign.

DODGER: 54%
NIKKI RAE: 46%

No. 5 DARYL MUZZIN vs No. 12 SAM GRAVEL

The short-haired Gravel proved to be no match for the long-haired Muzzin.

Also, Daryl beat Sam.

DARYL: 77%
SAM: 23%

No. 6 BO CARTER vs No. 11 EDDIE THOMPSON

Honestly, you LA Kings fans are awful. Bo Carter is a beautiful rescue dog t
hat was born with bowed legs
and LA Kings fans just tossed him aside for a cute Golden Lab?!? You all should personally apologize to Jeff Carter and his family. Especially the next time he scores a game-winning goal for YOU.

BO: 44%
EDDIE: 56%

No. 7 MILO BROWN vs No. 10 PARKER MITCHELL

Parker Mitchell was tabbed as one of our pollsters "Dogs to Watch" coming into this competition, but much like Dustin Brown this season, Milo is proving all the haters wrong.

MILO: 72%
PARKER: 28%

No. 8 REGGIE DOUGHTY vs No. 9 PEARL PHANEUF

Finally, even though Pearl Phaneuf had a celebrity endorsement behind her...

...nothing is cuter than a beagle on a couch.

REGGIE: 69%
PEARL: 31%
What an amazing Sweet 16! We'll be back shortly to preview the matchups for the Elite 8!
As always, make sure you give back by purchasing one of the "We Are All K9s" calendars!!!
Buy them here
!
All proceeds benefit the Wags & Walks Adoption Center! Also, Jeff and Megan Carter work tirelessly to help promote all the wonderful dogs that are available for rescue throughout Los Angeles with the
Wags and Walks organization
.
You can always support Wags and Walks by
fostering, rescuing or donating
.
Also, check out
Sunny Saints
, a St. Bernard Rescue that Jake and Courtney Muzzin are involved with.
They even
foster dogs from Sunny Saints
!