The WHL Saskatoon Blades "will wear Star Wars jerseys for their Nov. 28 home game," according to Scott Larson of the Saskatoon STARPHOENIX. The night will also "feature Star Wars characters, while fans are encouraged to dress in Star Wars costumes for a chance at prizes, including tickets to the Saskatoon premiere of Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens, which hits theatres on Dec. 18." The Food Banks of Saskatchewan "will be the major benefactors from Star Wars night." The special jerseys "will be sold in a silent auction at the game, with a portion of the proceeds going to the food banks." As well, the food banks "will receive proceeds from the 50/50 draw and fans can bring non-perishable food items or cash donations to the game." Blades President Steve Hogle said that the promotion "has been one year in the making." They "reached out to LucasFilms, which got on board with the project and helped work with the team on the design" (Saskatoon STARPHOENIX, 11/11). Blades Manager of Communications & Community Relations Maclean Nelson said, "We figured with the release of the new Star Wars movie that this would just be a no-brainer for us to really kind of reach out to a different crowd that may not get to experience hockey before. With all the hype around this movie that putting out a jersey like this would just generate so much buzz." Nelson said after the team released the design, within an hour it had "gotten a ton of notoriety and a lot of media attention" (CBC.ca, 11/10).
