Oil Kings initiative wins fans at Lucasfilm
Players will sport Star Wars jerseys as they face Blades
The Edmonton Oil Kings hope The Force is with them against the Saskatoon Blades on Saturday.
The Oil Kings will be sporting special-edition Star Wars jerseys on Nov. 4, which will be auctioned off following the game, with proceeds going to Sorrentino’s Compassion House which supports women battling cancer by providing affordable accommodation in Edmonton.
“I’m very proud of the jerseys,” said Oil Kings director of business operations Kevin Radomski. “Lucasfilm has a lot of check marks you have to do in order to get approval, and when we submitted our jersey design, they didn’t change anything.
“I’ve talked to other teams that have worked with Lucasfilm that have had six or seven revisions, but they looked at our jersey and said they were good to go, and asked us to send them five of them.”
Along with the jerseys, the Oil Kings will also be auctioning off a custom-made light saber. The event is in conjunction with the release of the latest edition of the movie franchise, Star Wars:The Last Jedi, which will be in theatres starting Dec. 15.
“I think the jerseys are really cool,” said Oil Kings defenceman Conner McDonald, one of the bigger Star Wars fans in the dressing room. “I think they’re for a great cause, that’s the biggest thing about them. I’ve never been a part of something like this before, so the fact that I get to experience this, just makes you want to wear the jersey a bit more.”
The Oil Kings have worked with Sorrentino’s Compassion House in the past with specialty-jersey nights.
“We rely on community support in order to keep our guest fees reasonable,” said Melissa Kraft, executive director of Compassion House. “So games like this means so much, and it shows that the community cares about these women while they’re in the city for cancer treatments.”
Notes: The Oil Kings announced Monday they acquired defenceman Jantzen Leslie, 18, from the Saskatoon Blades in exchange for a conditional eighth-round pick in the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft. Leslie had two assists in 64 games with the Blades last season. He has played four games for Saskatoon this year.