From the Heart - A Grizzlies fan look at recent events

This is an article writtten by Tony Burrows. For those of you that know Tony(many do), he is a heart soul Victoria Grizzlies supporter, a class act and one of the better fans you will ever meet!!!
Tony is our Grizzlies photographer and Social Media Team Leader!!!

Grizz Superfan  - Mr. Tony Burrows

This is my opinion only.
I am writing this from a fan’s perspective. And I certainly don't want to make any kind of big deal out of it and try pointing fingers at people and trying to lay blame for something that was just one big comedy of errors and lack of instructions due to unforeseen circumstances.
OK, I'll admit the the teddy bear toss was a bit of a fiasco! Our Grizzlies team knew about the teddy toss and were trying their best to score at least one goal for us. You could see the terrific effort at the end of the game with the 6 on 5 flurry in front of Powell River's goalie Phillips that came to naught. (By the way, even with the shut out I thought the Grizzlies played well and it was a really exciting game! )
Can we really blame the kids for leaving the ice they way they did? By the rules our boys had to leave the ice immediately after the end of the game (with a little leeway for a victory celebration!) They are not allowed back on the ice for any reason till the other team is off. Apparently no one from the Grizzlies had told the team what to do in this situation. Because of the mix-up with having to throw the toys at the end of the game no one from the Grizzlies had thought to tell the Powell River team to get off the ice immediately in case of a shutout so the Grizzlies could return and pick up the toys. The 40 or so teddy bears could easily have been picked up by the Grizz team AFTER the Kings had left the ice. Or they could have been picked up by our very able ice cleaning, newly engaged couple!
This is the second time I have seen this situation at a Teddy Toss where we fail to score. Maybe, in the future, it may not be so bad an idea to toss the teddy bears onto the ice in the first intermission, clean them up and then resurface the ice. I have heard that sometimes players find that the interruption after a first goal, and then the teddy toss cleanup, throws their game off.
I don't know how many of you read the article in the Sunday Times Colonist about that game, but I happened to notice the part where they interviewed goalie Phillips and he said that they knew it was teddy toss in Alberni the night before, and the Dogs scored a late game goal and got their toss, and there was no way PR was going to let that happen in Victoria and they would make sure the teddys remained in the stands. 
I have seen on my Facebook page some posts from riled fans saying that the Grizz should be ashamed of themselves and that maybe next year they would not bring toys. Who do you think that would hurt except the poor little kids whose Christmas could be made a little brighter because of these donations?

Here is the excerpt from the Times Colonist article that I was referring to:

At the end of the game, the teddy bears littered the ice and the Kings players helped to collect them and put them on a golf cart.
“We have a big, strong defense and they make life a lot easier for me,’’ said the 18-year-old Phillips. “They blocked a lot of shots for me, especially when Victoria was pressing for a goal late in the game.
“I was aware that is was teddy bear toss night and our team wanted to keep them in the stands. Last night in Port Alberni, it was also teddy bear toss night and the Bulldogs scored their only goal late in the third period. We didn’t want that to happen again tonight.’’

Tony Burrows.