The teddy bear toss has become one of the greatest traditions in sports.
Each year, minor and junior hockey teams across North America host a special Teddy Bear Toss Night at the arena. For this specific event, teams encourage fans who are attending the game to bring some sort of stuffed animal with them so they can toss it on the ice following the team’s first goal of the night. After the game, all the stuffed animals that were tossed onto the ice are donated to local children’s hospitals and charities as Christmas presents.
This year, the Hershey Bears fans went above and beyond and set a new personal record as they tossed just over 25,000 stuffed animals onto the ice following Liam O’Brien’s fifth goal of the season on Sunday.
According to the team, they ended up collecting roughly 25,017 stuffed animals on Sunday afternoon, which is a new franchise record.
It’s pretty incredible that the fans managed to combine for 25,017 stuffed animals considering the official game sheet recorded 9,403 people in attendance at the game.
The Calgary Hitmen currently hold the record for most bears tossed on the ice during a game (28,815), but the Hershey Bears came pretty close this year.
(H/T Twitter/thehersheybears)
