The Hershey Bears collected 52,341 stuffed animals as part of their Teddy Bear Toss event.

Thousands of ice hockey fans threw stuffed toys on the rink during a game between Hershey Bears and Hartford Wolf Pack at the Giant Center arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The bizarre sports phenomenon known as the “Teddy bear toss” is a Christmas ice hockey tradition during which fans toss stuffed toys on the rink after the home team scores its first goal. The stuffed toys are then donated to various charities.

During Saturday’s match, the Hershey Bears collected 52,341 stuffed animals and broke their previous record of collecting 45,650 in 2019. The visuals of the teddy bear toss have been doing rounds on social media. The game announcer can be heard describing the rain of stuffed toys as a “sweet, cuddly mayhem” and the players can be seen playing with those that accumulated on the rink.

HELP I’VE FALLEN AND I CAN’T GET UP #TeddyBearTossHershey pic.twitter.com/7IkOsGA8Ng

As Hershey Bears player Axel Jonsson-Fjällby scored a hattrick, the fans once again celebrated by throwing their hats on the rink. After a 30 minute delay, the game resumed and Hershey Bears emerged as winners. Celebrating the three goals by Jonsson-Fjällby, the Twitter handle of Hershey Bears tweeted, “FIRST THEY THREW THE BEARS, NOW THEY THROW THE HATS #TeddyBearTossHershey”.

FIRST THEY THREW THE BEARS

NOW THEY THROW THE HATS #TeddyBearTossHershey pic.twitter.com/dGhF7tLpNV

The Hershey Bears fans are considered some of the most enthusiastic participants of the teddy bear toss tradition. This was their 20th teddy bear toss and according to PennLive, the ice hockey team has donated 3,22,199 toys since 2001.

We’re in the memory making AND the teddy bear collecting industry #TeddyBearTossHershey #HersheyBearsCares pic.twitter.com/O0IrJVURtQ

Tonight, we BREAK our own record! The 2022 @GiantFoodStores Teddy Bear Toss has produced a grand total of 52,341 stuffed animals! THANK YOU! #TeddyBearTossHershey #HersheyBearsCares pic.twitter.com/0WUEYd6ULy

Legit we’re running out of space pic.twitter.com/pBQpDo2yws

The Hockey Writers says the tradition first started on December 5, 1993, during a game between Kamloops Blazers and the Portland Winterhawks.

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