The Hershey Bears’ annual Teddy Bear Toss game is always a special night, and the 2025 edition on January 5th against the Providence Bruins was no exception. The excitement was in the air before the game even started. Fans arrived carrying teddy bears, and large donation bags filled with stuffed animals were stacked around the arena. My family brought a bag of my old teddy bears to donate and kept a few to throw when the Bears scored.

We sat in our usual seats with my mom and dad, eagerly waiting for the big moment. The first period had a lot of anticipation, and at one point, there was even a “false goal” when a puck hit the goal post and bounced out. Some fans thought it was a goal and started throwing their bears, but we had to wait a little longer for the real thing.

Finally, at 14:45 of the first period, Mike Sgarbossa scored the Teddy Bear Toss goal, and the arena erupted. Thousands of teddy bears started flying through the air. It was exciting and crazy! Since we were sitting in the lower section, we got hit by bears being thrown from the upper levels. I think one was even soaked in beer (yuck). The people in front of us got completely buried in teddy bears!  Check out this video we took…

Cleaning up all the bears took a long time, so they used it as the intermission break. One of the funniest moments was watching Clay Stevenson try to get a bear unstuck from the net. The players also had fun, diving and jumping into the massive piles of stuffed animals on the ice.

Photo credit: The Hershey Bears

By the end of the night, the final count was announced—102,343 teddy bears collected! It was amazing to see just how many were donated, all going to local charities to help kids in need.

The Bears made the night even better by winning the game 5-1. It was an unforgettable experience, and my favorite part was seeing just how many bears were collected and knowing they would be going to a good cause. The Hershey Bears’ Teddy Bear Toss is such a special tradition, and I can’t wait to do it again next year!