GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – More than 7,600 teddy bears being passed out to children at Aurora BayCare in Green Bay on Monday.
A handful of Green Bay Gamblers hockey players are handing out stuffed animals that were thrown on the ice during Saturday’s ‘Teddy Bear Toss.’
Following the team’s first goal in the annual contest, fans throw the bears onto the ice.
Media Relations Coordinator Jason Habeck says “our guys just stop play. They come out and clean up bears too. Right in the middle of the first period, you’ve got all these (FFA) kids out on the ice, you’ve got our players, and they’re bagging up bears. We’ve probably got it down to about 15 minutes (before play resumes).”
Some of the players who were at Aurora BayCare weighed in on their Saturday experience.
Nolan Moyle says “the atmosphere from the fans was unbelievable. Getting that first (goal) and seeing all the teddy bears come down was unbelievable.”
It was McKade Webster who netted that opening goal about five minutes into the contest.
Josh Dunne notes the entire locker room was buzzing before the game.
“We all wanted it, but it’s a team game so we were going to be happy for each other. It was definitely a little competition to see who could get that goal.”
In its 19 years, the Teddy Bear Toss has collected more than 107,000 stuffed animals.
