One of Calgary’s great holiday traditions continued on Sunday afternoon, as the Calgary Hitmen hosted their 30th Teddy Bear Toss game. Playing their third game in as many days, the Hitmen threw all sorts of rubber on Wenatchee Wild goaltender Tobias Tvrznik.

It took longer than usual and the Hitmen spent much of this game chasing, with the Wild scoring the first two goals of the game in the second period. But the Hitmen finally lit the lamp in the third period, with Ethan Moore burying a feed from Andrei Molgachev to send thousands of stuffed animals soaring onto Saddledome ice to cut Wenatchee’s lead to 2-1.

The goal, scored 12:55 into the third period and 52:55 into the game, was the latest Teddy Bear goal in Hitmen history, coming 14:34 later than the previous latest goal, scored late in the second period during 2011’s game.

The announced total stuffed animal haul was 26,828, but a few hundred toys were thrown onto the ice amidst fan confusion after Hitmen rookie forward Hayden Schollar was fouled on a breakaway and awarded a penalty shot. After a brief pause while the errant stuffies were cleared from the ice, Schollar’s penalty shot attempt was unsuccessful.

The Hitmen ended up losing the game by a 3-2 score, putting their record at the event at 19-8-1-2.

The 26,828 stuffed animals represents the fourth-largest collection for the Hitmen at a Teddy Bear Toss and represented the second-best bears-to-fans ratio (1.622) in the event’s history. The record, both for bears and bears-to-fans, came in 2018, with 29,635 bears and 1.645 bears per fan.

Through 30 edition of Teddy Bear Tosses, the Hitmen have now collected and distributed over 500,000 stuffed animals to local charities. Stuffed animal distribution takes place on Monday morning, with Hitmen players assisting in handing the stuffed toys over to over 60 local agencies, including the Alberta Children’s Hospital and Calgary Food Bank.

The Hitmen, and their captain, Calgary Flames prospect Axel Hurtig, return to action on Friday night when they host the Red Deer Rebels.

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