The Islanders spent the morning with puppies and it was adorable

As hockey players and sports organizations are wont to do, the New York Islanders used some free time today to help out a cause. But this was the kind of cause that makes you go “awwwwww...”

They spent their day with...puppies! It was part of a photo shoot for a holiday calendar with no-kill animal rescue organization Animal League. The photos bring many of your emotional triggers together: Islanders players in uniform holding puppies.

• The three-headed goalie monster holding puppies in the crease? Check.
• Your Captain and Savior John Tavares nuzzling up to a puppy? Check.
• Casey Cizikas with a puppy held warm inside his sweater? Check.
• Thomas Hickey looking younger than the puppy he’s holding? Probably.

They teased it on social media: Twitter, Instagram, (probably Facebook too but my goodness it’s frightening out there) and Snapchat but...if you don’t know Snapchat I’m not about to try to explain (think short video clips, basically).

There were multiple shots of all three goalies, Thomas Greiss, Jaroslav Halak and Jean-Francois Berube holding puppies in front of the net — see, three keepers can all share the crease!

See the full gallery here.