NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers defenceman Reid Andresen and forward Andrew Basha pose with stuffed animals during the 2021 Teddy Bear toss game against the Brandon Wheat Kings at Co-op Place.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
It won’t be long before teddy bears fly at Co-op Place.
The Medicine Hat Tigers are hosting the annual Teddy Bear Toss game Saturday when they face the Saskatoon Blades.
All stuffed animals or winter gear donations thrown onto the ice after the Tigers’ first goal of the game will be split between the Medicine Hat & District Health Foundation, the Salvation Army, the Medicine Hat Women’s Shelter and the Medicine Hat News Santa Claus Fund.
Associate coach Joe Frazer, who has taken part in the game as a player and a coach, is excited for the annual fundraiser.
“It’s for a great cause, so usually we get the most fans out to our games because it’s for a great cause and I know the guys always want to be that first guy to score the goal and get the teddy bears flying,” Frazer said. “It’s a special game and everyone looks forward to it.”
Defenceman Bogdans Hodass was the guy to score last year to release the bears. Frazer tabbed forward Oasiz Wiesblatt as his pick to score the ‘big goal.’
Rookie forward Cayden Lindstrom also selected Wiesblatt or his linemate Brendan Lee as the player to release the bears. Saturday will be his first teddy bear game and he would love to score the goal himself and has dreamed about doing it since he was a kid.
“I’m looking forward to it, just watching the teddy bear tosses as a kid you always want to score that goal or play in that game and see all the teddy bears get thrown on the ice,” Lindstrom said. “It’ll be a cool experience.”
It’s something defenceman Pasha Bocharov has experienced before, having taken part in the Saskatoon Blades’ teddy bear game the day before he was traded to the Tigers on Dec. 28, 2021. He’s looking forward to experiencing Medicine Hat’s version.
“I’m really excited, the teddy bear toss games are super fun and always a good time,” Bocharov said. “It’s also an opportunity to get two points at the end of the game.”
Bocharov called his own name as the first goalscorer Saturday and says the Tigers have had a good week of recovery and work to prepare for the weekend coming off their stretch of four games in five days.
“It was lots of games, lots of hockey and it’s good to get a couple of days for us and then get back to it,” Bocharov said. “We had a couple of the hardest practices we’ve had all year these last past couple of days, so it’s good to get ready for the weekend.”
Before Saturday’s fundraising game the Tigers head to Calgary to face off with the Hitmen for the third time this season. Calgary has won the previous two games, most recently beating the Tigers 5-2 on Nov. 26.
Frazer is excited for the weekend ahead.
“Both are great teams who play hard and fast, so it’s going to be a great weekend,” Frazer said. “We’ve had a week of practice to clean some things up, I know the guys are hungry to get back in the win column and play a full 60 minutes.”
With 10 games before Christmas and 13 in the month of December, Frazer says the week was about resting up but also building on parts of their game they may not get a chance to work on until the new year.
“It’s just fine-tuning things, whether it’s D-zone structure, our transition game and a big point of emphasis was playing without the puck and making sure we’re getting above it,” Frazer said. “Last week we kind of got away from that. So we’ve been re emphasizing that and some special teams stuff as well.”
