It seemed like such a good idea. I mean, local fans donating teddy bears to needy children during the holiday season. It's a great idea. What could possibly go wrong? As Stephen Colbert reminds us, when bears are involved, anything can go wrong.
Minnesota-Duluth decided to hold their fourth annual fourth annual Teddy Bear Toss this past Saturday. Fans were instructed that throw their teddy bears onto the ice after the Bulldogs first goal of the game.
Bulldogs fans had a little trouble with the whole "first goal" concept though. Most of the bears made their way onto the ice after the first goal. But then a few errant bears were tossed onto the ice after Drew Akins scored to put the Bulldogs up 2-0. In accordance with NCAA rules, an announcement was made over the PA that the Bulldogs would be penalized if anything else was thrown on the ice.
When Duluth scored their third goal, to make the score 3-0, two more bears were thrown on the ice, and the Bulldogs were assessed a two-minute penalty. The Bulldogs almost escaped unscathed, but Bemidji's Travis Winter scored a powerplay goal with 9 seconds remaining on the penalty, to make the score 3-1. The goal seemed meaningless at the time, but Bemidji came back to tie the game at 5, and eventually win in overtime.
The Teddy Bear Toss is a nice tradition, and hopefully it continues at Duluth. But next time, they should probably have the toss between periods instead of after a goal.
For more on the bear debacle, RWD has her own take.
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11 comments:
The UMD Admin needs to get a clue. How dumb can you be.
Throwing anything onto the ice is potentially dangerous for skaters...next time how about collection barrels?
See I'm glad I saved my bears to throw out later in the game....
I'm a Happy Bemidji Fan!!!!!!
PS.. You'd think that the Ref's would have know since my bears were green.....
anon @10:32pm:
It's not like this is some sort of original idea. The teddy bears get thrown on the ice after the first goal, and staff and players pick them up and make sure the ice is cleaned up before play resumes.
Apparently, the WCHA doesn't believe in charitable endeavors, however. Maybe next year, UMD can just try to collect them in lame, generic toy boxes in the DECC concourse.
If I were them (UMD and the DECC), I wouldn't stop doing the promotion.
Oh, and so it is known, I was at the game, and Bemidji's coaches and captain were lobbying for a warning after the first goal, almost as if they had no idea why all that stuff got thrown on the ice.
Providing plastic bags is also good, as to preserve the teddy bears and keep crap from getting on the ice.
The Teddy Bear toss has become an annual tradition here in Bakersfield, home of the ECHL's Condors. For almost a decade we've been doing it with no problems. The staff at UMD needs to make sure everyone knows how the promotion works beforehand. I hope this incident doesn't end the teddy bear toss there. When done right, it serves the public good and makes for great publicity. TBT Night is always our highest-attended game. 8,700+ came out this season, tossing 5,400 bears and other stuffed toys for donation to needy children.
Condors Teddy Bear Toss night article
I just think your piece should read "Saint Cloud Tech Alum Travis Winter"
Wooo, go Tigers! ;)
>>Throwing anything onto the ice >>is potentially dangerous for >>skaters...next time how about >>collection barrels?
Actually I kinda thought it would be less lethal to throw teddy bears as opposed to barrels. But maybe the UMD players are tougher than nails! ;-)
Congrats, your blog made today's Strib.
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Sorry, forgot to paste the link.
http://www.startribune.com/503/story/871854.html
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"That's a tough call against UMD right there," Serratore said. "I'm sure [UMD coach] Scott [Sandelin] wasn't happy, and I wouldn't have been happy, either."
Yeah, that's why you and your assistant were begging for a penalty after the second goal, right?
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