From The Los Angeles Loyolan
By Catharine Galanti
Christmas came early for LMU Club Ice Hockey this year. The gifts weren’t delivered in the form of stockings hung on the mantle or in an avalanche of presents under the tree, but in something better: charmingly ugly holiday sweater-themed jerseys, hundreds of stuffed animals strewn on the ice and most importantly, a blowout win with double-digit goals. A performance like that covers any hockey fans’ wish list.
Three minutes into the first period, LMU struck first with a shot from senior forward Matisse Hawthorne that was buried behind the University of California, Berkeley (Cal) goalie. Within seconds, hundreds of bears rained down on the ice, launched from the stands as players collected them with their hands, sticks and even the shovels used for collecting the snow shavings when the ice is resurfaced.
The Teddy Bear Toss is a beloved tradition, but there were some changes made this year from seasons past. One of the main differences was that the game was held at the Toyota Sports Performance Center in El Segundo, California, as opposed to the Lions’ usual Harbor City rink. The Toyota Sports Performance Center is the practice facility for the Los Angeles Kings and is a bigger arena, making it possible for more fans to come out and support the team.
“It was great. We had a lot more people turn out this week. Last year, it wasn’t as special because we didn’t get to play here under the bright lights,” said Hawthorne. “It was a bigger event coming here, but it was really special.”
A bigger crowd makes for more people bringing bears, and in turn, more toys getting donated to the Richstone Family Center, a nonprofit that treats and prevents child abuse. A few days after the game, the team delivered the bears to kids in Richstone’s program personally.
980 bears made their way onto the ice, beating last year’s count of 556 by a landslide. In 2021, the program collected 301 —the previous record — meaning that year after year, the tradition has become more successful — and so has the team itself.
It’s impossible to separate the Teddy Bear Toss event from the game as a whole. The final score was 12-3, one goal shy of the Lions’ season high of 13 and tied for their second-largest margin of victory all year. It was the third win in a row for the Lions and their seventh win in the last 10 games.
The whole team played well, with seven different players scoring at least once, but none contributed more than Hawthorne and freshman forward Alex Skenderian. They each finished the night with six points, with multiple goals and assists apiece. With two goals and four assists, Hawthorne tied his season-high at six points and now leads the team with 41 points overall. If it’s possible to outdo that performance, Skenderian did it, with two assists and four goals, including the eventual game-winning shot scored in the first period.
“Ever since we lost to [the University of California, Los Angeles], we’ve really been firing on all cylinders. We’ve worked on the power play — I think we have one of the best power plays in our conference,” said Skenderian. “I’m looking forward to the next chapter of the season.”
Since that game against UCLA in early October, the team has gone 11-3, including a five-game win streak against Grand Canyon University (GCU), Arizona State University (ASU), California State University, Northridge and the University of Colorado, Boulder.
“Dude, we are buzzing right now. I think ever since we went to Arizona — that’s where we really picked it up because we beat GCU, and we beat ASU, and those are two teams that we’ve always battled against,” said Hawthorne. “Since then, we’ve just had that motivation to know that we can just go into any game and beat any team. We know we’re going to go hard. We know we’re going to win.”
Buzzing is an apt way to put it — the energy and momentum in on the team is palpable. The team is now ranked sixth in the West division of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA), the highest ranking in program history. On their last road trip, they picked up ranked wins at Weber State University and Utah State University, and their only loss on the trip was to Montana State University, who currently holds the best record in the country for ACHA Division II hockey.
“We got a lot of new freshmen this year, and I think also the addition of having a second team just breeds a little bit more competition in the room for all of us. [It pushes us] to work a little bit harder to keep that spot on the [Division II] team,” said Hawthorne. “But I think things have just clicked together. With our new coach as well, and the new systems we’ve had, everything’s just flowing in the right direction.”
The team will pause their season until next semester, but they plan to keep the same approach in the second half.
“We’re all going to take a break. I think we’ve all been going super hard,” said Hawthorne. “Over break, we’ll all be skating a little bit, but right when we come back, nothing’s going to change. It’s just pure domination when we go into Washington.”
The Lions return to action with a four-game road trip from Jan. 12-16, where they’ll play two games apiece at the University of Washington and Western Washington University.
(Originally published at https://www.laloyolan.com/sports/lmu-ice-hockey-s-teddy-bear-toss-game-is-the-gift-that-keeps-on-giving/article_fe07e861-b652-5508-8f4a-e1afb93f3725.html)
