Louie Belpedio is the newest bringer of cuddly chaos in Hershey, Pennsylvania, after scoring the Bears’ 2025-2026 Teddy Bear Toss goal against the Rockford IceHogs on Sunday afternoon.
Belpedio slipped a point drive by IceHogs goaltender Laurent Brossoit 2:55 into the first period, beginning one of the greatest traditions in pro sports.
Thousands upon thousands of stuffed animals were thrown onto the packed ice at the Giant Center, pausing the game as players and volunteers collected all of the “Sweet Cuddly Mayhem” into large bags for local charities.
“To the line, Belpedio, THEY SCORE,” Bears play-by-play man Zack Fisch yelled. “Sweet cuddly mayhem! It’s a sky full of stuffies! It’s the Teddy Bear Toss magic in Hershey!”
As the IceHogs attempted to clear their zone, Bears forward Spencer Smallman got a piece of the puck, putting it on Belpedio’s tape at the point. The veteran defenseman fired a low wrister that crossed up a screened Brossoit and beat him five-hole along the ice.
Before signing with the Washington Capitals this past offseason, Belpedio spent three seasons with one of the Bears’ most bitter rivals, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He was with the Phantoms at Giant Center when Bogdan Trineyev scored the Teddy Bear Toss goal in 2024.
“A lot more fun [to be on the Hershey side of this],” Belpedio told Fox 43’s Todd Sadowski. “It’s pretty cool. Obviously, it’s for a really good cause, and it’s exciting to be on this side of it for once. Big game, big crowd. Obviously, there’s going to be a ton of bears thrown, so it’s exciting. We always talk about who’s going to get it, and luckily, it was me. It’s definitely exciting. It’s cool to be a part of, and there’s a little extra energy in there.”
The goal was Belpedio’s fourth of the season and his 16th point in 28 games for the Bears. The 29-year-old defender is skating on the team’s second defense pairing with rookie rearguard David Gucciardi.
“I remember when I was here a couple years ago as a visitor,” Belpedio said. “You just sit in the locker room and get the countdown going to when you can get back out there. So, to be able to interact and help clean up the piles, it’s a lot of fun. Great start for us, but we just gotta keep going, though. We can’t be satisfied with one. They’re a good team. We gotta be sharp when we get back out here.”
Bears players posed for photos as they dove into the massive piles of stuffed animals all around the ice. Matt Strome, Andrew Cristall, and Mitch Gibson were among the first group to make the plunge into the giant piles of plushies.
The Bears also gave Bogdan Trineyev a camera to hold as he dove into a pile. Trineyev screamed, “Teddy Bear Toss! Hey, let’s go!” next to Ilya Protas and Eriks Mateiko before making his leap. He was then joined in the pile by a flying Sam Bitten.
Hershey set the new hockey record in the Teddy Bear Toss last year, collecting 102,343 stuffed animals after Mike Sgarbossa’s goal. Though the official count isn’t in, they look ready to top that mark again this year.
