The beloved Oval is a great place to lose yourself—and your hat. Something about the soothing rhythm of gliding around and around and around may lull people into a forgetful state of bliss, or maybe it's the stress of changing in and out of gear with thousands of other skaters. Either way, people manage to leave all sorts of stuff behind. To avoid an avalanche from a mountain of mittens, Oval staff only hang onto neglected equipment for a couple of weeks, then donate all the unclaimed items to charity. Here's a look at the current state of the lost and found shelf, by the numbers.
23 single mittens and gloves
15 pairs of mitts and gloves
12 hats
9 skate guards
4 hoodies and/or sweaters
3 skates
2 scarves
2 pairs of socks
1 neck warmer
1 t-shirt
1 hockey glove
1 hockey sock
1 water bottle
1 helmets
1 boots
1 phone case, but not the accompanying phone. It's surprisingly rare for cellphones to turn up at lost and found. One Oval worker thinks that's because "people are so attached to their phone, they notice when it's missing."
