The Calgary Hitmen couldn’t defeat the Medicine Hat Tigers this weekend, but the night wasn’t a total loss. More than 25,000 children will have a new teddy bear thanks to the Calgary fans who donated a stuffed animal during the 2011 teddy bear toss.
Hitmen rookie Calder Brooks said that he wished the Hitmen could have won the game, but it was still an amazing experience to see all those teddy bears flying toward the ice.
Calder said:
“It’s unbelievable playing in front of all of those fans. I’ve never experienced anything close to that before. But I’m sure if we would have got the win, it would be a better mood inside the dressing room.”
Hitmen head coach Mike Williamson added:
“It’s such a good crowd, obviously. It’s a great thing for our players to have that experience to play in front of that many people and to have that energy.
According to Yahoo! Sports, the fans in Calgary hurled 25,303 stuffed animals onto the ice during the 2011 teddy bear toss. The 17th annual teddy bear toss saw 2,000 more stuffed animals than in 2010, but still fell short of the record, 26,919, set in 2007.
Here’s the video of the teddy bear toss.
And in case you need a different angle, here’s the view from the ice.
According to the Calgary Herald, the 25,303 stuffed animals will be delivered by the Hitmen to various local hospitals. The 2011 event was the second largest in teddy bear toss history.
Are you making any holiday donations this year?
