Winning is normally the main aim in sport - but for the Calgary Hitmen, getting teddy bears on the ice was the main priority.
On Saturday afternoon (local time), the Hitmen hosted their annual teddy bear toss.
The teddy bear toss is an annual event where fans throw teddy bears onto the ice after the first Calgary player scores a goal.
After that, the bears are collected and sent to a number of charities agencies, including the Salvation Army and the local children's hospital.
And fans came prepared with bears, as Calgary hosted the Lethbridge Hurricanes at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
The Hitmen were trailing 3-0 to the Hurricanes in the first period before Michael Zipp scored for the home team, which started the flurry of bears flying. Calgary went on to lose the game 4-2.
The day marked the 22nd time the event had been hosted by the Hitmen.
The first time they hosted the event, 1323 bears were tossed onto ice, while the record for the most number of bears was last season when 28,815 were thrown onto the ice.
This year, 23,924 teddy bears were thrown to the ice by 17,601 fans.
In total, 323,343 bears have been collected over the 22 years.
The Hitmen are a major junior ice hockey team based in Calgary, Canada and are a part of the Western Hockey League.
Newshub.
