BYRON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Teddy bears will fill the ice Friday night at the game between the Grand Rapids Catholic Central and Byron Center High School hockey teams.

The event, which started almost 20 years ago with amateur and pro club games, has caught on locally at a younger level.

Danny Nelson, a Catholic Central senior and captain of the Cougars hockey team, was inspired as a freshman by the Grand Rapids Griffins teddy bear toss.

"I was like, I want to be out there on the ice picking up the bears or scoring the goal,” Nelson explained.

Little did he know the story of Billy Wondergem who was a captain more than a decade before him at the same school.