Annual teddy bear toss

We have been enjoying our Spokane Chiefs hockey games, even with their somewhat spotty performance this season. But one game that is always fun is the annual Teddy Bear Toss tradition. Fans bring in stuffed animals, and then when the Chiefs score their first goal, everyone tosses them out on the ice. It’s complete mayhem! Different hockey clubs have different “tossing” traditions - back when we lived in Detroit, we remember the Red Wings’ tradition was to toss fresh squid on the ice. That was weird! Trust me, seeing large and small teddy bears flying through the air (and sometimes on your heads from upper seat tosses that don’t quite make it over the glass) is WAY better.

We brought in some of the kids’ old Beanie Babies, the less-sentimental ones, since they have just been rotting in our garage for 30 years. Of course right when that first Chiefs goal was scored, Steve was getting my dinner - terrible timing! But the event lasts about a half hour as they are tossed, the players and volunteers start scooping them up and loading them on pickup trucks and bags, and the ice is slowly cleared. Honestly, it is hilarious and so much fun to see and participate in. (Plus the whole thing was sponsored by the pharma company that Elijah works for!)

Over 9,000 stuffed animals were collected for donation, which is pretty good considering we were a crowd of a little over 10,000.