Portland Winterhawks Collect 11,000 Stuffed Animals on Teddy Bear Toss Night

One of the coolest promotions in sports, Teddy Bear Toss night, was held by the Portland Winterhawks on Saturday night.

Fans were encouraged to bring teddy bears to the game. When the home team lit the lamp for the first time, more than 11,000 teddy bears came flying down onto the ice.

Keoni Texeira was the man who scored the goal, and it was a special one:

"

Goooooal! It's @Keoni_texeira! His first career goal and the teddy bear goal!

— Portland Winterhawks (@pdxwinterhawks) December 15, 2013"

Take a look at the scene on the ice:

"

Congrats to @keoni_texeira for scoring the @pdxwinterhawks Teddy Bear goal tonight #greatcause #watch4flyingbears pic.twitter.com/WfZoBdw2eW

— PDX Jr. Hawks U12 (@PDXJrHawksU12) December 15, 2013"

It was a successful promotion and a good game for the home team:

"

Hawks win! 11,862 bears, a sellout crowd of 10,108 and hats in a 5-3 win over Seattle!

— Portland Winterhawks (@pdxwinterhawks) December 15, 2013"

The teddy bears will be donated to charity for the holidays.

Thanks to Mike Richman of The Oregonian for the video, and hat tip to Next Impulse Sports for the find.