Morning Wrap: Calgary Hitmen and The Biggest Teddy Bear Toss Ever

((ht: cbssports.com))

This is too cool not to post.

If you've ever been to a minor league hockey game during the holiday season, you may have seen a promotional event many teams undertake.

The Teddy Bear Toss.

And it's pretty cool. The home team scores a goal and thousands of Teddy Bears rain down on the ice.

Mind you all the bears are collected and donated to a local charity for kids, so it's a great cause.

The Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League take the toss to new levels. They are your record holder for most Teddy Bears. By a large margin.

Check out the video from Sunday's game, the 20th time the Hitmen have undertaken this promotion.

According to the team, 25,214 stuffed animals rained down on the Scotiabank Saddledome ice after a goal by Radel Fazeelev. And yes, it took a few minutes to clean things up afterwards.

Saddledome In A World Of Hurt From Calgary Flooding

((HT: SI.com/Muir))

Full disclosure: The HQ has friends in the industry who are working this story and we hope that they're safe in all of this, but the Bow and Elbow rivers have pole vaulted their banks from rain in Alberta province and the subsequent flooding.

The Saddledome, a venue where the HQ has covered events in the past, is flooded...

Not just "basement flooded," but "flooded to the 14th row of lower bowl seats and having the private boxes in jeopardy" kind of flooding..."

Julie Van Rosendaal of CBC Radio tweeted out the picture from Scotsman's Hill...

The Calgary Stampede is set for July 5th, but it may be in jeopardy as well...

According to reports, in the Dome, the visitor locker rooms and the media room, which run scoreboard operations have been heavily damaged.

The Saddledome is the home of the NHL's Calgary Flames along with the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League and is used for the annual Stampede event. There are also several significant concerts booked over the next several weeks.

The Stampede starts July 5th, which doesn't leave much time to get the arena and area in good working order. The challenge is, the water has yet to subside and it's not known when that is going to happen.

Video and story by The Canadian Press:



And here's the local CBC Evening News from Calgary- scary stuff...