Annual Islanders' Teddy Bear Toss 'quite a spectacle'

The Charlottetown Islanders and Coach Atlantic have teamed up to stuff the bus Friday with the team's annual Teddy Bear Toss.

People from across the Maritimes have already started to donate teddies for the annual toss. At Friday's game, following the Islanders' first goal, fans will toss the donated bears, or ones they've brought themselves, onto the ice in celebration.

"It ends up being quite a spectacle," said Islanders marketing director Jason MacLean.

"Players are kind of dodging out of the way and these teddy bears just keep coming flying out of the sky and literally litter the complete ice with teddy bears."

But it is more than a spectacle. The teddies will be passed on to P.E.I. police forces. They will in turn distribute them at children's hospital wards, to the Salvation Army and other agencies, and use them when dealing with troubled families.

The team hopes to collect enough teddy bears to fill a Coach Atlantic minibus.

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