Stuffed animals take the ice at the 67’s Teddy Bear Toss game

It was cloudy with a chance of teddy bears at TD Place Arena Sunday. CTV’s Camille Wilson has the story on the Ottawa 67’s Teddy Bear Toss.

Teddy bears rained down onto the rink at TD Place Arena for the Ottawa 67’s annual Teddy Bear toss game on Sunday.

Fans were invited to throw new or gently used stuffed animals onto the ice after the 67’s scored their first goal of the game. The tossed teddy bears will be donated to various local charities and community organizations, such as the Salvation Army and CTV and MOVE 100’s Toy Mountain to be given to children over the holidays.

“This is a great event. I love it. It’s my favorite event of the 67’s all year. I come every single year,” said attendee Ken Lewis.

Teddy Bears began flying from the stands roughly 30 seconds into the second period, after Nic Whitehead scored the 67’s first goal to make the game 2-1. The 67’s went on to win the game 3-2 in a shootout.

The 67’s said they collected 4767 teddy bears from the ice at today’s game.

“It’s bears that I’ve had since I was little and they were just downstairs collecting dust. I’m going to give them today for people that are going to use them more than me,” says attendee Emilie Caron.

Emilie and her dad Daniel Caron have attended the Teddy Bear toss game every year for the past 5 years.

“Not the first time we’ve come and it’s a really fun game. It’s really fun initiative,” says Daniel.

“It makes me happy that other people are recycling. They’re going to have a second home,” says Emilie.

The Teddy Bear toss is a longstanding tradition in the Canadian Hockey League and the 67’s have been participating in it for the last 25 years.

Those that didn’t have a bear also had the option of purchasing “Brickley Bears” at the arena, a program made in partnership with The Brick which sends proceeds to the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.

“We’ve been doing this for years. It’s actually a natural partnership for The Brick because this is Brickley Bear, he’s our charity mascot. So, a teddy bear toss is just a natural thing we’ve been doing this for years and years. We’re just very happy and grateful to be a part of the 67’s team,” says Evan Delucry, regional sales manager with The Brick.

The game started at 3 p.m. against the Flint Firebirds and Ottawa sported themed jerseys for the event.

Prior to today’s game, the most bears ever collected in a single game was about 2,500.

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