The Lethbridge Hurricanes annual Toque and Teddy Toss is always a fan favourite and often pre-circled on the calendar weeks beforehand. However, this anniversary year — the demand is greater than ever from the community organizations that the game benefits.
Friday’s 25th edition of the event is the first since 2019 when nearly 3,600 stuffed toys rained onto the ice, and the club says this year the demand for toys and toques is greater than ever.
“Once the game happens and we collect the bears and toques, they go to a lot of charities in our community,” said Hurricanes broadcast and communication manager Dustin Forbes.
“This year we need a lot more donations than we’ve had in the past, with not having the game for two years.”
In years past, a group of Hurricanes players has always made a trip to Chinook Regional Hospital to hand out bears following the game. And while the event is seasonal, hospital staff say it benefits kids year-round.
Anywhere from 400 to 600 bears are given to patients annually, and supply is running low, with the pediatrics unit down to less than 50 stuffed animals.
The club doesn’t expect to get anywhere near their 2007 record of 21,905 bears, but Forbes said the hope is they can exceed their recent average of about 3,500.
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“We would like to have about 4,500 bears if possible, and I think we need about 1,000 toques,” he said.
Everything that’s collected on the ice is divvied up between 15 community organizations, including Lethbridge Family Services’ ‘Angel Tree’ campaign.
Lethbridge Family Services director of advancement and communications Michelle Gallucci said while the first COVID-19 Christmas presented many challenges, the situation ahead of this holiday season is even direr.
“The demand caught us off guard,” Gallucci said.
“We thought that last year was really critical, this year is more so. We have over 3,000 children — we’re at max capacity right now — and every child we want to give something warm and cuddly too.”
Plenty of tickets are still available for the Friday night matchup with the Brandon Wheat Kings.
Fans are asked to put donations in individual, clear plastic bags, in order to keep the bears and toques clean when they hit the ice.