UNITED STATES – Rain of lint on ice. The practice is popular in the United States, but the pandemic did not allow it to take place last year. This time, this Saturday, January 22 at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania, fans of an ice hockey team, the Hershey Bears, a club affiliated with the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League, were finally able beat their record.
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52,341 stuffed animals were thrown onto the ice after Hershey’s first goal, turning the rink into “soft, cuddly chaos”, according to game commentator Zack Fisch. In 2019, the last time the launch could take place, 45,650 toys were collected, or 6,691 less.
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Capture @TheHersheyBears – Twitter
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Soft toys as gifts for underprivileged children
For this tradition called the “teddy bear toss” (literally the “teddy bear toss”, editor’s note), the spectators are invited to bring soft toys and throw them on the ice when the home team scores its first goal or at the final whistle.
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The toys are then collected to be redistributed as Christmas gifts for charities and hospitals in the area. Players often like to hand them out to underprivileged children in person.
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This time, after their first goal, the Hershey players took advantage of the game delay of more than 30 minutes to celebrate in the mountains of animals on the ice. Forward Shane Gersich dove headfirst into the pile and disappeared for a few seconds. Another player followed suit, Alex Alexeyev.
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This “Teddy Bear Toss” was a first prelude to the team’s fan celebrations. Striker Jonsson-Fjällby scored a hat-trick. The Bears beat the opposing Hartford Wolf Pack 5-0.
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In France, this practice tends to settle little by little, to a lesser extent. Recently, in Picardy, on December 12, an Amiens version was organized for the benefit of the Secours populaire.
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See also on The HuffPost: Russian soldiers installed an ice rink in a cargo plane
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