Hitmen teddy bear toss tradition continues

Pavlo Padakin’s goal opened the scoring and the floodgates as fans launched stuffed animals on to the ice during the first period of the Hitmen’s afternoon matchup with the Kootenay Ice.

The annual tradition, celebrating its 18^th year, invites fans to bring teddy bears to the Saddledome for the afternoon game.  Following the home side’s first goal of the game, the toys are thrown to the ice where they are collected and donated to local charities.

This year, the stuffed animals will be presented to the Alberta Children’s Hospital, Stephen’s Backpacks, the Boys and Girls Club of Calgary, the YWCA, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army and the Calgary Inter-Faith Food Bank.

A total of 21,453 stuffed animals hit the ice following Padakin's goal.

In the first 17 years of the Teddy Bear toss, more than 192,000 toys have been collected by the WHL team.

The Hitmen defeated Kootenay 4-1.

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  After scoring in the first period, Pavlo Padakin returns to the bench through a maze of stuffed animals

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  Hitmen Teddy bear toss - Scotiabank Saddledome

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  A layer of Teddy bears cover the ice at the Scotiabank Saddledome