Hockey goal triggers nearly 26,000 teddy bears tossed to ice (VIDEO)

Despite the Calgary Hitmen's menacing name, the Canadian major junior hockey team has an old tradition that makes them downright cuddly.

The Teddy Bear Toss has been around for nearly two decades, benefiting many local charities but, over the last few seasons, it has become an amazing spectacle.

Sunday night, the Western Hockey League team — which shares the Scotiabank Saddledome as a home arena with the NHL's Calgary Flames — welcomed a crowd of 17,199 who were ready to toss the stuffed bears as soon as the Hitmen scored their first goal.

It took a little while, but forward Pavel Padakin triggered a torrential downpour almost 26,000 of the fuzzy friends at the 3:42 mark of the second period.

Padakin even makes teddy bear angels on the ice in a pile of the little guys.

The official count from the team for 2013 was 25,921 bears, which tops last year's number. The assorted bears will handed out to sick children at the Alberta Children's Hospital and to animal shelters as chew toys.

What a great tradition.

Check out a photo gallery of all the action from the @PetroCanada Teddy Bear Toss! http://t.co/3g45a4NVFk pic.twitter.com/UDQD3qMYhL
— Calgary Hitmen (@WHLHitmen) December 2, 2013

Junior hockey teams forced to share plane ride after brawling on ice

In order to save money, the Western Hockey league (WHL) is forcing the two teams deadlocked in their fight-filled championship series to travel on the same plane between games.

The Portland Winterhawks and the Edmonton Oil Kings are tied, 2-2, in the top junior hockey league championship series and there is no love lost between them.

While the bitter rivals have been pounding each other on the ice, between games, the WHL had the bright idea of seating the bloodied players on the same plane for the 962 mile journey between cities as a way to save cash.

On the first tension-filled charter flight, the two teams— from cities in different countries—  had to be divided by members of the media and league officials who sat as a human buffer between the players.

The movie "Slap Shot" couldn't have scripted this any better.

The cost-cutting solution has led to some to question if putting rival players in a confined space, 30,000 feet in the air is a good idea.   Remember you're dealing with two teams of combustible teenagers and 20-somethings who could go off at the drop of a word or sideways look.

Even the coaches aren't happy with each other after Edmonton's Derek Laxdal complained about a Portland cheap shot leveled at one of his players during a 4-3 loss.

According to the Portland Oregonian, there was "not a lot of socializing" on the initial flight.

It sounds like they'll have to convert one of the plane's restrooms into a penalty box.