NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN - Medicine Hat Tigers forward Corson Hopwo passes a stuffed animal to arena host Jesse Christianson during the Medicine Hat News Teddy Bear Toss game against the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018 at the Canalta Centre.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
Get your predictions in.
The Medicine Hat News Teddy Bear Toss returns to the Canalta Centre for another night of fur-flying fun when the Tigers host the Saskatoon Blades on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m., and the dressing room is already buzzing with speculation as to who will open the floodgates.
“There’s a bit of chirping in the room to see who’s going to get it,” said Tigers rookie Cole Sillinger. “For forwards I pick Jimmy (Hamblin), for D I pick (Daniel) Baker.”
If his first guess comes true, it would mark Hamblin’s second consecutive teddy bear toss tally. The Tabby captain netted last year’s big goal 14 minutes into the first period on a pass from goaltender Mads Søgaard – setting off a wave of 1,990 stuffed animals and 1,080 pieces of winter gear cascading over the boards. All of the items collected at this year’s event will be donated to the Medicine Hat and District Heath Foundation, the Salvation Army and the Medicine Hat Women’s Shelter, while the Tigers themselves will hand deliver a number of bears to children at the local hospital.
“Obviously it’s an amazing cause,” said Hamblin, adding he believes Baxter Anderson or Elijah Brown will net this year’s goal. “It’s something that’s just so special and we love doing it every year. To score the goal is really cool, but then especially afterwards, going to the hospital and giving the teddy bears to the kids, that’s the really cool part.”
Søgaard – who insists he will assist on the goal again this year – agreed with Sillinger that Hamblin could repeat the feat again this year, while also giving a nod to the star rookie.
“I think maybe Jimmy or Silly, that would be my two guesses,” said Søgaard. “I don’t want to put too many names out there because then some guys are going to be jealous that I didn’t say them, so I’m going to keep it to that.”
While it’s an exciting night all-around, Tabby head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins says there’s always one nervous thought creeping in the back of everyone’s mind.
“They’re always good. You’re always nervous that you’re not going to score. That’s a concern,” said Desjardins. “But I think for us, we approach every game the same. They’re all going to be tough games, we know that, so we just have to just go in and make sure we’re ready at the start of every game.”
Desjardins added it’s been a while since he’s been part of a teddy bear toss game, and he’s looking forward to seeing how the community will come out in support of the cause.
“I’ve always said Medicine Hat is a special place,” he said. “I think there are really good people in Medicine Hat, I think they do care and I think it’s a great cause. Whenever you can give back to kids that need something, especially at this time of year, it’s great. And I think it’s exciting. The guys are all excited, they want to score that goal to start. It’s been a little while since I’ve been involved in it so I’m looking forward to it.”
The Tigers (16-7-1-0) will have some work to tend to first however, as they’ll enter Mosaic Place tonight to face the Moose Jaw Warriors (9-11-1-0) at 6 p.m. Medicine Hat picked up a 3-1 victory over the Warriors last Friday, however forward Brayden Tracey – who accumulated nine points over four games against the Tigers last season and recently signed an entry-level contract with the Anaheim Ducks – will be back in Moose Jaw’s lineup after serving a suspension last week.
“He’ll definitely bring more to their lineup tomorrow than they had last Friday,” said Hamblin. “Not giving him time and space, I think, is going to be the biggest thing. If you give any good player time and space they’ll be able to make plays. So as long as we can take that away from him, hopefully we can contain him a bit.”
Medicine Hat will also get a few boosts to their lineup, as forward Bryan Lockner will return to the team after missing four games with a lower-body injury while fellow forward Cyle McNabb and defenceman Nick Perna will make their debuts in orange and black after joining the team in a pair of trades this week.
Defenceman Trevor Longo could return Friday, while forward Nick McCarry is still day-to-day. Both have been sidelined with lower-body injuries.
