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View Full Version : 14,000 tickets sold for Teddy Bear Toss



RunTheGoalie
12-02-2005, 11:12 PM
...As of last night. Add two full days of ticket selling, plus a walkup on Sunday, and can we break last year's attendance record for one of these games? Even with the NHL back?

Gonna be a fun game, and the Hitmen go into it on a three game winning streak after dominating Saskatoon for 58 minutes tonight.

The_Vulk
12-03-2005, 06:15 PM
With luck, everyone will be bringing a teddy bear to toss.

Or, if one forgot, I heard you could purchase a teddy bear at the game to toss.

Beaner
12-03-2005, 06:36 PM
14,000 Teddy Bears hitting the ice? Wow that will be quite the spectacle, hope the Saddledome has a front end loader to help get them off the ice.

RunTheGoalie
12-03-2005, 07:00 PM
They had 16,000 fans last year, and just over 13,000 bears hit the ice.

Should be a similar crowd this year - I dont expect they would open the 300 level up this early in the year - and hopefully at least the same number of bears.

Two years ago (9000 bears) they pulled six Dodge Rams on the ice and had those things stuffed full to get the bears off. Even the drivers seats were crammed with bears.

They dont call it the "Worlds Biggest Teddy Bear Toss" for nothing. ;)

From the game two years ago:

http://www.lazarien.com/~kws45/bear02.JPG
http://www.lazarien.com/~kws45/bear03.JPG

RunTheGoalie
12-03-2005, 07:06 PM
And yes, you can purchase a bear from the Rainbow Society at the game for $10. That's how I usually do it. That way not only the bear goes to charity, but the cost of the bear does too.

The_Vulk
12-04-2005, 07:06 PM
Talk about your double treat!

The Hitmen scored (and first) and over 13,600 teddy bears were collected.

And the Hitmen scored 5 or more goals! Hamburger (with the purchase of a drink) with a coupon from the ushers on the way out (while supplies last).

Sadly, not everyone was given a coupon (they ran out), and the franchise in question was told coupon only (game tickets not acceptible).

Beaner
12-04-2005, 07:22 PM
The radio guys on Mojo just said that at the Portland game they collected over 20,000 bears the other night.

RunTheGoalie
12-04-2005, 07:42 PM
The gamesheet for Fridays game says 21,067 teddy bears for Portland - with only 7700 in attendance. I dont wonder if Portland was padding their stats a little. Of course, all that matters is that 21,000 toys actually did make it to local charities.

ScottyWazz
12-04-2005, 07:54 PM
In Portland, only 10,000+ hit the ice. The others were corporate donations.


Portland fans broke their own record of 7,790 stuffed animals set last season by tossing 10,742 on the ice Saturday night. Several corporate partners including Bank of the West, Fred Meyer, and Dollar Tree also donated thousands of stuffed animals making the grand total of 21,067

I have a feeling that if they are going to count the corporate donations, Cardel Homes and other sponsors will put that number over.

The_Vulk
12-04-2005, 09:18 PM
According to the Hitmen Home page news:


Fans tossed 13,650 bears a new CHL Record.
Fans TOSSED!

I don't think corporate donations get included into the CHL record books.

But the Game summery on WHL.ca does record the Portland game of Nov.26 as:

GAME NOTES: 21,067 Teddy bears were collected in the annual teddy bear toss for local charities.
and the Calgary game Dec.4 as:

GAME NOTES: 13,650 STUFFED TOYS COLLECTED
Trying to verify on the CHL.ca 'record book' does not display a catagory for this.

Which is the record?

ScottyWazz
12-05-2005, 12:21 PM
Well-- listening to CityTV, CFCN, and the other local stations, Calgary's is the record.

RunTheGoalie
12-06-2005, 10:07 PM
If you count fan donations only, the Hitmen. If you include corporate, the Wintehawks. Each organization will promote their respective "records" in the following years. I doubt the CHL keeps any kind of records on this. It is all a marketing angle.

Either way, great show by both organizations, fans and sponsors.