Hershey Bears Wrap: 2025 Starts On Winning Note With Back-To-Back Wins & A Record-Setting Teddy Bear Toss

HERSHEY — This trip to GIANT Center to cover the Washington Capitals' AHL affiliate Hershey Bears was different for me than others.

Where I am usually adorned in a hoodie and Bears ball cap, today my dress was decidedly more professional. Where I usually attend games with my son in tow, grabbing a beer and getting ready for some action, Sunday’s game vs. the Providence Bruins marked my first trip to the press box.

The team did not disappoint.

Coming off a penalty-filled, 4-3 shootout victory over Providence on Saturday, where Hunter Shepard came up big and Pierrick Dubé, Spencer Smallman, Mike Sgarbossa and Luke Philip (shootout winner) scored, the Bears returned home to face the Bruins again for their annual Teddy Bear toss game, where the first goal would send thousands of stuffed toys to the ice.

So as I finally seated myself next to other writers in the press box (with a little imposter syndrome), I anxiously awaited the puck drop on the first game I’d be covering in a press box as a credentialed (for one game anyway) hockey writer.

After the puck dropped, the action picked right up where Saturday’s game left off, and it was fairly evident these two teams were less than fond of each other. Providence scored the early goal, but later in the first period, Mike Sgarbossa tied the game back up, unleashing sweet, cuddly mayhem.

For the next several minutes, the fans in attendance would toss 102,343 stuffed animals onto the ice for charity, breaking the previous world record for a Teddy Bear Toss event held by the very same organization.

As for me, I was privileged to go onto the ice and witness the mayhem first-hand. Dozens of volunteers came onto the ice to begin the cleanup process, with assistance from the players themselves.

Alex Limoges and Jon McDonald were both experiencing their second and first Teddy Bear Toss events, respectively.

While helping Limoges load up a bag of stuffed animals, I asked him the first question that I would ask a professional athlete: “When you turned pro, did you think you’d be helping to clean up stuffed animals mid-game?”

"I did not," Limoges chuckled.

After scoring the Teddy Bear Toss goal, Sgarbossa got to enjoy the event with one of his sons, while his teammates posed with the other stuffed animals and jumped into piles of them to boot. Capitals prospect Hendrix Lapierre, who is back in the AHL as he gets back to his game, lept a giant pile that had yet to be cleaned up. Then, as writers do, I took my turn jumping.

Over 40 minutes later, the piles of stuffies were finally off the ice, and the Zambonis came out to ready the ice for a return to game action.

The Bears would go on to have a three-goal second period, with Matt Strome and Grant Cruikshank striking 30 seconds apart before Spencer Smallman scored his first of the game.

Smallman's night wasn't done there, though, as he struck again on the power play in the third. Clay Stevenson finished the night with 18 saves on 19 shots en route to a 5-1 victory for Hershey.

Hershey plays one more at home on Tuesday against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms before taking to the road for five of their next seven games.

It was tough to top such an amazing Teddy Bear Toss event, but a decisive 5-1 win will come close, as does starting off 2025 with back-to-back wins. It was an amazing game to be my first to cover in person, and I am excited to cover future games.

A big thank you to Zack Fisch and Jesse Liebman for their assistance, and Brandon Alter of Capitals Outsider, who was kind enough to show me where to go and what to do for the first game.