Gearing up for Raiders annual Teddy Bear Toss

The Raiders have already played in two Teddy Bear Toss games on the road in the last week in Red Deer and Edmonton, and another is coming up Friday night in Swift Current. In those games, the Raiders are 2-0.

In the Edmonton Teddy Bear Toss game this past Sunday, there were two false alarms that sent the bears flying on the ice with one goal being called off due to a penalty, and another not even finding the back of the net and the thrown bears caused a stoppage in play. Scissons encourages fans to arrive early, not only because fans don’t want to miss the Teddy Bear Toss goal, but also to get settled and into the game atmosphere so false alarms don’t happen.

“One is get here early, get into your seats, get ready for the puck drop because as soon as that first goal is scored, whether it be in the first 30 seconds or at some other point during the game, you want to make sure that you’re primed and ready to have that going. Other than that, pay close attention. It happened in Edmonton twice, it happened in Humboldt where a goal was called off, so we’ve had some situations here in the very recent past where it looked like it, but it turned out not to be.”

Bears will not be for sale at the rink during the game, so if you plan on throwing a bear on the ice, you will need to purchase one beforehand. Unlike other Teddy Bear Toss games around the league, there is no requirement to have them bagged or wrapped in plastic before they hit the ice.

“We don’t really enforce those as strictly as potentially other ways to do it. While some of the bears that are wrapped up and that are new will go to the Pattison Hospital, to the children’s ward there, a lot of them are used for other things around town, whether that be some shelters, some kindergarten classrooms, and some different things around town. So we don’t enforce it, but it is appreciated if people do bring them wrapped up. At the end of the day, too, it is kind of fun seeing the fur fly rather than seeing a plastic bag.”

Last year’s Teddy Bear Toss goal was scored by none other than the captain, Justice Christensen, just under ten minutes into the first period.

“I’m going to go Max Heise. I know it might be the easiest pick, he leads the team in goals, but yeah, I’m going to go with Max.”

The bears and toques collected by the Raiders go to various organizations both locally as well as the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com

by Nick Nielsen

Gearing up for Raiders annual Teddy Bear Toss

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