When the Oregon club hockey team announced its first annual “Teddy Bear Toss” game in the lead-up to a series against former PAC-8 rival Washington, all eyes were on the opening goal of game two. Following an 8-2 win in which six different Ducks scored, the list of candidates to score the teddy bear goal was long. Ultimately, freshman Inde Abresh, one of the more obvious candidates as the team’s co-leader in points, scored the opener Saturday for Oregon (5-5) en route to a 5-2 win over Washington (11-6).

Teddy bear toss games are a tradition across minor league, junior and amateur hockey, with the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League holding the first in 1993. Fans are encouraged to bring stuffed animals to the game and throw them on the ice when the home team scores its first goal so they can be collected and donated.

Even though Oregon’s move to Division 1 in 2022 has changed the stakes of the rivalry game, the Oregon-Washington rivalry, including a 27-year history on the ice as conference opponents, made the home series against Washington a perfect opportunity for the team’s first teddy bear toss, with the bears going to the Ronald McDonald House.

“I try to teach my guys to play the same way, no matter who you’re playing, (Division I, Division II or Division III) teams ranked high or teams ranked low,” Oregon head coach Jack Hyman said after the game.

Abresch wasted no time relieving the fans of their teddy bears, chipping in a rebound 1:35 into the game off a shot by senior Jackson Henningsgard that left Huskies goalie Jonah Nash sprawled on the ice, giving Abresch an open net.

“For him to be one of our leading goal scorers and score two games in a row was great, and I’m sure he loved having a teddy bear goal as well, so just an added bonus,” Hyman said.

Oregon freshman goalie Finn Wilson preserved the lead with an excellent save at 14:36, pushing twice with his left skate to follow a cross-ice pass to a wide-open Husky in the slot and deflecting the shot high with his right shoulder.

Freshman Jackson Ebbot extended the Ducks’ lead on a breakaway at 9:49, skating in all alone from the Huskies’ blue line after a defender failed to stop him with a dive and converting through the five-hole off Nash’s left pad.

The Huskies finally put a shot past Wilson with 3:22 remaining in the first period. Wilson stopped the initial point shot by defenseman Darren Morris, but overslid trying to position himself for the rebound, allowing senior Logan Maloney to tap it inside the right post.

During the goal celebration, Washington defenseman Peter Konopka found Oregon sophomore defenseman Axel Wyatt standing in front of the Ducks’ net and tapped the top of his own helmet repeatedly, mimicking a celebration several Ducks players had done on their seventh goal in the opener. Wyatt shoved Konopka as the other four Huskies were skating by to celebrate with the bench, and a line brawl ensued.

As the players paired off, Wilson came out of his crease and grabbed Washington freshman Derek Yang. Wilson wrestled Yang to the ice and attempted to take the forward’s helmet off once he fought his way up, but by that time, the referees had broken up several similar wrestling matches between skaters and turned their attention to the one involving the goalie.

“The physicality is obviously part of it, and the fact that it’s Oregon-Washington, so it’s always a rivalry game and that’s always fun,” Hyman said.

For the Ducks, Wilson and Wyatt were given five-minute penalties for fighting and game misconducts, as were Yang and defenseman Christopher Williams for the Huskies. Freshman Thomas Cafarelli replaced Wilson in Oregon’s crease.

“He’s always ready, so this time I didn’t have a choice — I had to throw him in — but when I did, I wasn’t worried,” Hyman said of Cafarelli. 

Soon after Oregon failed to convert on its first power play of the game, the Huskies went on their second, courtesy of a tripping penalty against forward Griffin Browne.

Oregon won one last shorthanded faceoff with Browne leaving the penalty box as the puck was dropped, but defenseman Colin Gabriel’s attempt to chip the puck off the boards and send him on a breakaway was intercepted at the blue line. Browne turned to the bench, leaving the Ducks short-handed, and the Huskies quickly worked the puck to junior Cameron Smith in the high slot, who beat Cafarelli on his blocker side to tie the game with 5:45 remaining in the second period.

Sophomore Noah Easterson put the Ducks back in the lead at 4:02, cutting to the left post and deflecting a hard cross-ice pass by freshman Zachary Orwig into the open net before Nash could slide over.

Senior Jackson Henningsgard soon doubled the lead at 2:33, picking up a rebound in the slot and patiently waiting as Nash fell backwards before ripping the puck into the top right corner.

Oregon opened the third period with a heavy possession advantage, but the Huskies were stronger defensively out of the intermission. Soon after killing off a cross-checking penalty, Washington took a two-on-one the other way. 

During a long Washington sequence in the Ducks’ zone with 8:27 remaining in the period, Oregon defenseman Victor Lazzaretti cross-checked Washington forward Brandon Conslo in the back. After the Ducks took the puck the other way while Conslo got to his feet, he skated the length of the ice and delivered a cross-check to Voyles, thinking he had made the initial hit. 

Voyles responded by shoving Conslo into the boards multiple times as the play went on around them, earning a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct, leaving Oregon to play over eight minutes without two of its top four defensemen.

The Ducks killed off the five-minute penalty, and with 2:33 remaining, Washington used its timeout to put together a final push. Less than a minute later, Easterson scored his second goal of the game into an empty net to cap off the sweep.

“I thought Washington responded really well tonight,” Hyman said. “I’ll be honest, I thought they outplayed us for a large portion of the game. We got into penalty trouble, but when the third came around, I thought my guys stepped up despite the five-minute major against us, and we won more battles in that period than we did the previous two, blocked a lot of shots, and sort of shut it down defensively.”

After a slow offensive start, the Ducks have scored 29 goals in their last four games against lower-end Division I Oakland University and Division II Washington. Oregon will attempt to translate what it has learned in those games to better opponents at the ACHA Chicago Classic in Romeoville, Ill., next weekend.