Cougars expect another huge crowd for annual Teddy Bear Toss

The Cougars are all set to end their pre-holiday schedule with the annual Teddy Bear and Toque toss.

After the Cougars’ first goal on Saturday night, fans will throw thousands of teddy bears and warm clothing items onto the ice.

Every team in the WHL now participates in the annual tradition.

“It is a pretty cool scene,” said Taylor Dakers, the Cougars’ Director of Business.

“It’s obviously something you don’t see at every game… 3-5,000 teddy bears thrown on the ice after a goal.”

All of the bears and clothes will be donated across northern BC.

For the second time in as many home weekends, the Cougars’ front office is expecting a large home crowd to come out and support the team.

“It should be a full building with lots of excited fans,” Dakers said, mentioning ticket sales are ramping up every day.

While the spectacle of the teddy bear toss is always exciting for fans and players, the points in the standings up for grabs are also very important.

“Back to backs with Kamloops, we are still sitting in second place,” Dakers said. “We are looking to bounce back after a lackluster road trip.”

The Cougars went 1-4-1-0 on that road trip and were outscored 24-15.

Back at home with a couple key players returning from Canada’s World Junior selection camp, Dakers thinks the team will “give Kamloops a run for their money.”

The Cougars are still sitting in second place in the BC Division based on games played, but are tied at 29 points with the Vancouver Giants after the poor road trip brought their record back below .500, sitting at 14-15-1-0.

Kamloops sits comfortably on top of the province, with a 16-6-3-2 record, good enough for 37 points in three fewer games played than the Cougars.

Friday night will kick off the first of four straight against the Blazers, two this weekend and two on December 30th and 31st.

Kamloops will be without their two top forwards, Logan Stankoven and Caeden Bankier, for all four of these games. They will both be representing Team Canada at the 2022-23 World Juniors.