Last Saturday night the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders’ fifth annual Teddy Bear Toss presented by Bank of the West broke the team record for teddy bears collected as fans tossed 2,150 stuffed animals onto the ice when the Riders scored their first goal in what proved to be a 6-2 win over the Waterloo Black Hawks at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena.

The teddy bears hurled onto the ice were donated to the Christmas Toy Shop just in time for Christmas. The Christmas Toy Shop is a partnership between Toys for Tots and the Salvation Army which provides holiday toys for children in need up to 17 years of age. The two groups annually serve hundreds of families and thousands of children in the Cedar Rapids area. The Jaycees and the United States Marine Corps coordinate the Cedar Rapids area Toys for Tots program.

“We’re overwhelmed by the generosity shown by our fans in this year’s Teddy Bear Toss,” said RoughRiders Vice President Jim Calpin. “We’re very thankful to our fans and to Bank of the West for helping to make Saturday night such a success.”

Bank of the West serves over three million households and businesses in hundreds of communities in 19 Western and Midwestern states. Bank of the West is a high-performance, full service regional financial services company with more than 700 commercial and retail banking locations and approximately 10,700 employees.

The RoughRiders (14-5-1, 29 points) are currently in second place in the USHL’s East Division. The Riders return to action Friday night at 7:05 when they host the Green Bay Gamblers.

Tickets for all remaining RoughRiders regular season home games- including this Friday’s- are now on sale. Tickets are available for purchase in person at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena ticket office, over the phone at (319) 261-4625 or on line at www.roughridershockey.com. The ticket office is open from noon to 5:00PM on weekdays and from noon through the end of the second period on game days. Ticket prices range from $7 to $17 in advance and from $8 to $18 on game days.