The Hershey Bears broke their Teddy Bear Toss record with over 20 000 stuffed animals in their latest game. So much stuffies, players even tripped over them.
The Bears’ star Garret Mitchell scored the first goal for his team and of the game during the first period. The match was against the Syracuse Crunch.
The second Mitchell scored the goal, was the second an avalanche of stuffed animals rained onto the ice. The fans in attendance were 9042. They donated a total of 20 662 stuffed animals – breaking their team’s Teddy Bear Toss record into pieces. Last year they got over 18 000 stuffies.
Several Hershey Bears players helped collect the stuffed animals and put them in bags. Others, though, decided to take a “swim” in the sea of stuffies.
Mitchell met the ice up close when he tripped over a stuffed bunny. Stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes made it onto the ice. Some were quite big, others were small. There was something for every taste.
@TheHersheyBears 20, 664 did you count these two still hanging on? #hbh #DefendTheDen pic.twitter.com/1aIuVuCGxN
— Tracey Brewbaker (@bretra88) December 4, 2016
The stuffed animals will now go to local charity organizations. Then the toys will make their way to children in need to bring them some smiles and joy.
Other teams, like the Calgary Hitmen, also held quite big Teddy Bear Toss events. They wanted more than 28 000 stuffies, but managed to get a little over 24 000. Still, that’s an impressive count. See the Bear’s teddy bear toss in its glory in the video:
