PHOTOS: Hershey Bears Fans Set New Record with 17,295 Teddy Bears
HERSHEY, PA – Hershey Bears forward Joel Broda laughs at Coco the Bear as the lay in a pile of teddy bears on Teddy Bear Toss Night (Kyle Mace – Chocolate Hockey)
An annual tradition at Giant Center is the teddy bear toss. Each year Bears fans bring teddy bears to Hershey to toss on the ice after the Bears first goal. This year the Bears looked to set a new AHL record by beating their own record of 12,890 plush toys from last season.
It took only 39 seconds for Steve Oleksy to score and let the stuffed animals fly. 17,295 went flying onto the ice at Giant Center for multiple regional organizations. Due to the fact so many Bears were thrown, the whole Hershey Bears team pitched in and helped clean up the furry friends, making for some great photos.
Bears players skate past the bench through piles of teddy bears
Oleksy celebrates with teammates as Pheonix Copley (hand in right corner) tries to catch a bear
Oleksy starts helping early clean up
New Bear Liam O’Brien pushes a few bears aside
Casey Wellman watches as push continues to rain
Tim Kennedy tries to contain a pile of Bear
Looks like Philipp Grubauer found a new friend
Nathan Walker backhands a small bear into his pile
Find the mascot
Junior Bears and volunteers help cleanup
Joel Broda climbs out of the pile with Coco
Better than a day at the pool
O’Brien helps pick up some Bears
Chris Brown throws a plush dog into a crate
Broda and O’Brien fill up the wooden box with handfuls of toys