Hockey fans can bring their teddy and toque donations to the stands Friday for the annual Lethbridge Hurricanes teddy bear toss game. The Hurricanes will go up against the Medicine Hat Tigers on Dec. 9, with the puck dropping at 7 p.m.
The annual teddy toss supports local charities in the city and surrounding area, including the Chinook Regional Hospital, Lethbridge Family Services, the Blood Tribe Police and Emergency Services, RCMP Victim Services and the MyCityCare Shop of Wonders.
“I think it’s huge, especially at this time of year — we are able to help brighten up a child’s day around the holiday season and I know the hospital, they use their donations throughout the entire year for kids that are in the pediatrics ward,” says Hurricanes marketing and community liaison Kathy Hong. “We have just under 500 tickets left for the game so we are really looking forward to a sold out crowd at the Enmax Centre.”
Hong says the game last year saw about 3,800 teddy bears donated, along with 900 toques. This year, the goal is to get more than 5,000 bears and about 1,500 toques.
“We are very excited, we absolutely love this game,” Hong says. “We have a lot of fun every season with this trying to guess who is going to score the goal, how many bears we are going to collect and we are super happy to be able to support so many charitable organizations this year too.”
The Teddy Toss game is a popular tradition near the Christmas season celebrated by every team in the Western Hockey League and other leagues in the sport. Spectators are encouraged to wrap their donations in plastic so they do not get dirty when tossed onto the ice.