The Calgary Hitmen continued their annual Teddy Bear Toss Sunday night netting over 25,000 stuffed animals for charity. The 17-year tradition calls for fans to toss the donated toys onto the ice when the Hitmen score their first goal.
The 17th annual Petro Canada Teddy Bear Toss Game has become a favourite for hockey players and fans alike, who filled the Scotiabank Saddledome anticipating the first goal and the frenzy that would follow.
It took two power plays and 38 minutes of action before the Hitmen scored their first and only goal against the Medicine Hat Tigers. Calder Brooks took the honour of scoring for the hockey team. Fans responded by lofting thousands of teddy bears into the air. The toys will be donated to Alberta charities during the 2011 Christmas holiday season.
The Calgary Hitmen franchise announced all stuffed toys received from the yearly event would be shared by the Cerebral Palsy Association, Salvation Army, Boys and Girls Clubs, Alberta Children's Hospital, and other smaller groups who have requested assistance from the hockey team.
The Calgary Herald reports, the Hitmen will begin distributing the stuffed toys, donated by more then 16,000 fans, to over 50 charity organizations today. "The team announced 25,303 bears were collected at Sunday's teddy bear toss, the second-most in franchise history, behind the world record amount of 26,919, set back in 2007."
The Hitmen estimate they have collected 186,613 bears for Alberta charities since the Teddy Bear Toss began. Videos of the event posted on YouTube continue their viral surge, attracting millions of viewers.
Cody Sylvester, who scored the first goal at last year's Teddy Bear Toss said, "It was a pretty amazing feeling. It was maybe one of the biggest goals I've scored in my career so far, just knowing if you're going to score or not and knowing that a lot of teddy bears are going to be flying all around your head. And once it went in, it was pretty exciting to see all those bears coming down."
No comments:
Post a Comment