This incredible teddy bear toss happened in the CHL at the Calgary Hitmen’s arena. Approximately 20,000 teddy bears were tossed on the ice after the Hitmen scored a goal.
Before you scratch your head too hard, this is a tradition. The original tradition was spawned by Scott Mellanby years ago when he found a rat in the change room and killed it with a slap shot. Fans of the Florida Panthers started throwing toy rats on the ice after a goal in 1996. The tradition moved on to other NHL arenas before the league imposed a delay of game penalty on the home team whenever fans disrupted the game this way.
The tradition took a charitable twist in this case. Every fan attending the game was asked to bring a teddy bear. When the Hitmen scored, all the bears were thrown onto the ice and the bears were given to charity.
What's Driving This Trend
- Charitable Fundraising
- Opportunity to create unique and engaging fundraising events that involve the community and give back to those in need.
- Crowd Participation
- Potential to create interactive fan experiences that encourage audience engagement and create memorable moments in sports and entertainment events.
- Creative Fan Traditions
- Space for fans to develop unique and creative traditions that enhance the atmosphere and spirit of sports events.
Who This Affects Most
- Sports and Entertainment
- Innovation opportunities to leverage fan enthusiasm and develop new initiatives that enhance the fan experience through immersive and participatory activities.
- Charitable Organizations
- Scope to collaborate with sports teams and fans to organize fundraising events that generate social impact and support various charitable causes.
- Toy and Teddy Bear Manufacturing
- Possibility to partner with sports teams and utilize their fan events to promote and distribute teddy bears, creating new marketing and branding opportunities for toy manufacturers.
