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Let the bears fly. The Mississauga St. Michael's Majors hosted the Oshawa Generals at the Hershey Centre tonight. It was teddy bear toss night at the game with proceeds of teddy bear sales given to Sleeping Children Around the World represented by Dave Dryden, former Major goaltender the last time the team won the Memorial Cup in 1961. All bears thrown on the ice after the Majors' first goal were donated to Boys & Girls Club of Peel. Staff photo by Rob Beintema |
by Gary McCarthy
Corey Bureau did his best to try and launch the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors to another victory tonight. It didn’t quite work out that way but perhaps more importantly, he created an avalanche that will benefit needy youngsters in Peel region this holiday season as well as underprivileged children in developing countries.
The Mississauga forward scored the first goal of the game but it wasn’t enough to lift the Majors to a win as Mississauga went down 3-2 to the Oshawa Generals in front of 3,425 spectators at the Hershey Centre, suffering their first loss on home ice in regulation time this season.
But what the goal did was produce a flood of stuffed toys that littered the ice in the Majors’ fourth annual Teddy Bear Toss.
The toys, donated by local Canadian Tire stores, will go to the Boys and Girls Club of Peel to distribute to needy children in the region over the Christmas holiday season.
The money raised from the sale of the stuffed animals will go to the Sleeping Children Around the World, a foundation that provides bed kits for needy children in third-world countries.
“Kids are kids, no matter what part of the world they are in,” said Dave Dryden, a former National Hockey League goaltender who administers the Sleeping Children foundation that was founded by his father Murray more than 40 years ago.
“The Teddy Bear Toss is just such a logical connection because it involves toys and kids,” continued Dryden, who was the backup goaltender to Gerry Cheevers 50 years ago when the Majors last won the Memorial Cup.
“I’m excited by this because of the Majors connection too,” said Dryden. “It’s all about sharing. We’re such a grassroots organization. We’re not dependent on advertising. We’re about people talking to people and that has never changed so you get a lot of energy from something like this.”
Team officials say that 1,614 stuffed toys were thrown on the ice after Bureau’s goal near the 10-minute mark of the first period and that should help make Christmas a little happier for needy children in the region. It is the largest total the Majors have reached in the four years of the event.
It didn’t provide the Majors with the inspiration they needed to handle the Generals, who got goals from Boone Jenner, Christian Thomas and Andy Andreoff en route to snapping a two-game losing streak.
Thomas, the son of former Toronto Maple Leafs star Steve Thomas, tied the game 2-2 early in the second period with his 22nd goal of the season and 10 minutes later, Andreoff scored what proved to be the game winner when he pounced on his own rebound and batted the puck in mid-air past Mississauga goaltender JP Anderson.
After Bureau opened the scoring, Jenner tied the game with a power-play goal. Majors forward Riley Brace was serving a minor penalty for slashing when Jenner beat Anderson with a low bullet shot from the top of the faceoff circle to the left of the Mississauga netminder.
Joseph Cramarossa put the Majors back on top when he scored his seventh goal of the season with just over a minute remaining in the opening frame.
But that would do it for the Mississauga offence as Oshawa goalie Peter Di Salvo, acquired by the Generals earlier in the week in a trade with the Barrie Colts, closed the door on the Majors.
Di Salvo, who was beaten for seven goals by the Majors back on Nov. 26 when he played for the Colts, stopped 28 of 30 shots.
Anderson turned aside 21 of 24 shots.
It was the last regular-season game for a while for Anderson and Casey Cizikas of the Majors as well as Oshawa defenceman Calvin de Haan.
All three will be at the Team Canada selection camp that begins on Sunday in Etobicoke as they try to earn a spot on the Canadian squad that will compete at the World Junior Hockey Championships. The world tournament gets underway on Boxing Day in Buffalo.
