Devil's Rivals Break Teddy Bear Toss World Record

Teddy bear toss has become one of the highlights of hockey seasons. I can remember teddy bear tosses in Binghamton dating back to the Binghamton Rangers days. That tradition continued with the Icemen, the Senators, and the Devil's.

For those of you who don't know what a teddy bear toss is, I'll do my best to explain. People that are attending the hockey games are urged to bring a stuffed animal with them. When the home team scores their first goal of the game everyone that brought a stuffed animal throws it over the glass and onto the ice. The stuffed animals are then collected and given to charity in time for the holidays.

Last year, according to the Hershey Bears website, the Binghamton Devils rivals set a world record for collecting 34,798 stuffed animals during the game. This Sunday night they set out to break that record, and they did.

At the 8:11 Mark of the first period Christian Djoos scored the first goal of the game for the Bears and the stuffed animals started flying. By the time they were all picked up and counted, the Bears announced that they collected 45,650 stuffed animals.

The Giant Center, where the Bears play their home games, holds 10,500 people for a game. That means on average, each fan brought 4.34 stuffed animals with them to the game.

The Binghamton Devils will host their Teddy Bear Toss Night Saturday December 14th at the Floyd L Maine's Veterans Memorial Arena against the Utica comets.

I don't think we have a chance to break the record, but it would still be nice to see the ice covered in stuffed animals for local charities.