Although the Rhinos’ Teddy Bear Toss has become an annual tradition, the event itself has been part of hockey since 1993 when the major junior ice hockey team known as the Kamloops Blazers. Part of the Western Hockey League (WHL), many more teams associated with junior and minor hockey league began the tradition when the home team scored the first goal of the night for their team.
The American Hockey League (AHL) Hershey Bears, who are an affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL) Washington Capitals, are known to have the record for most stuffed toys in a game with 102,343.
The El Paso Rhinos organization has two teams. One plays in the National American Hockey League (NAHL) which is a Tier II Junior league and the other plays in the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) known as a Teir III junior league that’s directly affiliated with the NAHL respectively.
The NAHL El Paso Rhinos (31-18-2-4) came off a 6-1 victory against fellow South Division opponent Odessa Jackalopes (22-25-4-3) right before their second matchup of the weekend where the Rhinos looked to clinch a playoff position under new head coach Mike Rivera who joined midway through the 2024-2025 season. He was the head coach for the NA3HL Rhinos during the 2024-2025 season. Joining him this season was new assistant head coach Austin Cline.
Odessa found themselves scoring five minutes into the first period from forward Nicholas Arlington where the Jackalopes would create chaos in the slot and finding openings. Before the halfway point of the period, fellow Jackalopes forward Adam Matar found the back of the net on a power play caused by El Paso forward Jacob Solano.
After Odessa’s 2-0 lead coming in the second period, the Jackalopes got another goal from forward Daniel Kuczkowski. Not long after, Rhino defenseman Alexi Gregoire would score his third goal of the regular season and give the home crowd the greenlight to toss the teddy bears on the ice.
The Rhino’s Teddy Bear Toss was in honor of Joni Arnett who graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) Cum Laude with a degree in Psychology and Criminal Justice along with a Master’s degree in Sociology. Arnett lost her life on July 1, 2007, and is survived by her two children, Preston and Brett Eastman. The stuffed animals were collected and donated to local charities.
With a game filled with scuffles from both teams totaling 10 penalty minutes for Odessa and six penalty minutes for El Paso, the Rhinos were looking to cut down Odessa’s 3-1 lead in the third period. Back-and-forth chirps from both teams occurred throughout the game. Comments such as “You’re a p****” were heard from the Rhinos bench towards the Jackalopes. Rhinos forward and recent commit to the NCAA Division I Robert Morris University Troy Hunka scored off a fast break into the offensive zone, cutting down Odessa’s lead 3-2.
The Rhinos changed the pace on defense to take back possession of puck and maintain offensive pressure. After a two-minute slashing penalty from Gregiore 11:30 into the period, El paso needed to hold off Odessa to keep their chances alive for the weekend sweep. Rhino goalie Logan Hughes made a crucial save which helped Rhinos look for more opportunities to find the net again.
With 2:18 minutes left in the third period, El Paso pulled their goalie to bring in an extra player. After an aggressive set of scuffles and fastbreak chances for both teams, the Jackalopes scored on the empty net from forward Caden Chiossi making the final score a 4-2 victory for Odessa.
“I think the second game, we couldn’t, we really weren’t getting pucks deep,” Hunka said. “The main adjustment [in the third period] was our coach was kind of, he was on us for turning over pucks, like I said, in the neutral zone.
On March 7, the Rhinos clinched a playoff spot for the Robertson Cup and finished ninth in the league overall.
“We’re very confident, tonight was unfortunate, but we’ve been playing pretty good [these] last 10 games, so I think we’re pretty confident and we’re going to be reeady for the playoffs,” Hunka said.
Rhino fans Erwin Delgado and Joel Delgado also commented on the Rhinos’ chances for the playoffs.
“I think they’re working really hard. We’ve been here pretty much all season. I think some of these minor setbacks aren’t really big things for them at the end,” Delgado said. “ I think they’re going to have a great postseason afterwards too.”
While Odessa’s season is over, a highlight for them was former alum Connor Hellebuyck winning gold for Team USA during the 2026 Olympics held in Italy. Hellebuyck currently plays for the Winnipeg Jets in the NHL.
For El Paso, they will play the Corpus Christi IceRays at the Hillard Center on March 27, with both teams clinching their playoff spots.
Kristian Hernandez is the sports editor for The Prospector and may be reached at [email protected] and social media tags @northeastvideography
