Star Wars Hockey Night In Canada

STAR WARS: Hockey Night in Canada
March 20th, 2015 at 7:00pm

The Force was with the Toronto Marlies AHL hockey club on Friday night as the team celebrated their inaugural Star Wars Night at the Ricoh Centre at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Canada. The promotion ignited the imagination of the crowd as several Star Wars themed events and on-ice contests took place throughout the evening as dozens of fans donned their best costumes from the Galaxy Far, Far Away.


Attendance for this event was definitely up and included several members of Darth Vader’s 501st Legion Canadian Garrison and a few well known bounty hunters as well. As the American Hockey League farm club for the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, the Marlies put on a great intergalactic show during the game breaks and intermissions, including a terrific Star Wars inspired fan film featuring Toronto Maple Leafs NHL legend, Wendel Clark #17 at the helm of the Millenium Falcon with his co-pilot and team mascot Carlton the bear as they sought to destroy the Lake Erie Monsters’ Death Star together.

The game itself was a great match-up versus Cleveland’s Lake Erie Monsters, the AHL farm team of the Colorado Avalanche. The Marlies took a 1-0 lead in the first period, only to surrender the tying goal late in the second. A hard fought, but scoreless third period led to sudden death overtime. With some exciting plays in both ends, Marlies’ forward Greg McKegg scored his second goal of the night with just over a minute left in the overtime period and the crowd celebrated the home team win with all the excitement of the Battle of Endor.
The announced attendance for the game was 6,229 and much of that can certainly be attributed to the “Force” factor. Held in conjunction with Toronto Comicon, $5 from the sale of each Marlies’ ticket on the night will be donated to the Toronto Sick Kids Hospital.

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