The Hershey Bears are hosting their biggest regular-season game of the year this afternoon at Giant Center. The team will host its 25th Teddy Bear Toss, aiming to break its ice hockey world record of 102,343 set last season.
The team accomplished the feat on January 5, 2025, against the Providence Bruins when Mike Sgarbossa scored Hershey’s Teddy Bear Toss goal at 14:45 of the first period, starting the sweet cuddly mayhem. Fans, who have brought sometimes over a dozen stuffed animals, began heaving them from their seats and onto the ice. Players on the ice (and sometimes nerdy media members – hi 👋🏻) dove into the piles as volunteers collected the stuffies. They are then later donated to children in need across Central Pennsylvania.
The event has grown in scale and popularity since it was first held by the Bears in 2001. The club has collected a total of 566,640 stuffed animals. Over 60 local organizations stand to benefit from this year’s event.
Per the Bears, Hershey has a record of 16-3-0-2 in its Teddy Bear Toss games. The organization also hosted a drive-thru event in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bears forward Bogdan Trineyev scored the Teddy Bear Toss goal for Hershey against Lehigh Valley in 2024, and he looks to become just the second Bear to score the Teddy Bear Toss goal twice, joining Maxime Lacroix, who accomplished the feat in 2008 and 2010. The fastest Teddy Bear Toss goal scored by Hershey came from defenseman Steve Oleksy just 39 seconds into the event in 2014, and Hershey has scored the goal that sends the fur flying in the first period 16 times in the history of the event.
The Hershey Bears Teddy Bear Toss goal-scorers
Here’s the elite list of players who have scored the goal. Who will become the 22nd? Or will it be Bogie again?
2001- Vaclav Nedorost
2002 – Cail MacLean
2003 – Agris Saviels
2004 – Marek Svatos
2005 – Brooks Laich
2006 – Alexandre Giroux
2007 – Jay Beagle
2008 – Maxime Lacroix
2009 – Chris Bourque
2010 – Maxime Lacroix
2011 – Graham Mink
2012 – Tomas Kundratek
2013 – Matt Watkins
2014 – Steve Oleksy
2015 – Erik Burgdoerfer
2016 – Garrett Mitchell
2017 – Liam O’Brien
2018 – Riley Barber
2019 – Christian Djoos
2021 – *Drive Thru event due to the pandemic
2022 – Axel Jonsson-Fjallby
2023 – *No Goal
2024 – Bogdan Trineyev
2025 – Mike Sgarbossa
Who Bears players think will score this year’s goal
New potential goal-scorers this year include rookies Ilya Protas, Andrew Cristall, Eriks Mateiko, and Cam Allen.
Gabby’s Acts of Kindness has already collected 13,021 stuffies for donation
Puck drop for today’s game against the Rockford IceHogs is set for 3 pm.
