Carolina Hurricanes as Star Wars Original Trilogy Characters

HONORABLE JEDI

Ah yes, the Jedi order or what’s left of it anyway. These laser-sword swinging space wizard-knights were the coolest thing to hit the theaters in the 70s and were well ahead of their time. So who on the team can compete with these badasses?

Luke Skywalker- Andrei Svechnikov

Svechnikov might actually be a Jedi in real life. Let’s be honest, half of those goals he scored this season were out of this world. Those lacrosse goals? He needed the force to get those in. But just like Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy, he still has a lot to learn and can continue to grow and be even more powerful.

Obi-Wan (Ben) Kenobi- Jaccob Slavin

Ben Kenobi showed us a taste of what a powerful force user can do. He also had a little sass that gleamed from time to time. Kenobi also managed to defend Luke and the others from one of the most powerful villains in movie history. Slavin has this ability to defend. He can hold the ice from several odd-man rushes per game. He is just that good.

Yoda- Justin Williams

Do. Or do not. there is no try. Wiser words have never been spoken by a little ancient green man. Yoda was there when the Order fell, he was also there to see hope in Luke. He was also around well in the height of the republic before the Clone Wars. Justin Williams has been around even longer. And with him in the lineup; certain, victory is.

THE SCOUNDRELS

We do love the scoundrels of the Star Wars Universe, don’t we? These bad boys were the reason the movies did so well. Sure, they broke the law, but they did it with style while still somehow being good guys.

Han Solo- Dougie Hamilton

We love you, Dougie! “I know”.

Man, Han Solo was one cool cat. He can do the Kessel run in only 12 parsecs. We didn’t know what that meant. It has nothing to do with Phil Kessel, but it sounded cool. Solo also never took himself seriously. Neither does equally cool at Dougie Hamilton. Floss after being named the first star? Why not? It also is interesting that he does like to hang around with a giant furry friend.

Chewbacca- Petr Mrazek

While not the furry friend I meant when talking about Hamilton, Petr Mrazek stars as another unintelligible giant brown furball. Yes, Chewbacca. Both men are giant but soft-spoken. And when the going gets tough, both are not afraid of getting pretty violent. Their celebrations are also pretty memorable too.

Lando Calrissian- Nino Niederreiter

Calrissian had style, he had swagger, and he was a complete scoundrel. Sound like anyone we know? Nino Niederreiter fits the bill. Compete with swagger and style. The only difference is that Lando was also kind of a two-timing traitor. Who invites Darth Vader to dinner? WHO?

Wicket W. Warrick- Haydn Fleury

Small, cuddly, cute, and packs quite the punch. Never underestimate him. Wicket, the leader of the Ewoks was a miniature badass that stormtroopers kept underestimating. Much like Haydn Fleury. Watching him wreck offensive efforts is a national pastime.

TRUSTY DROIDS

The original trilogy had many droids, but these two were the most important ones. One we didn’t understand at all, either that or he was so vulgar they had to bleep out everything it said, and the other spoke more languages than the population of a small country.

R2D2- Martin Necas

“Beep. Boop.” Martin Necas just scored. Again. R2D2 was a loyal droid and whenever you needed out of a pinch, he was there with just the right tool to get you through the day. Even if a bounty hunter is making you walk the plank into a toothy mouth in the sand. Necas, on the other hand, finds the back of the net.

C3PO- Teuvo Teravainen

C3PO was one of the most annoying, yet critical characters to the trilogy. He doesn’t get credited by much but he is always looking to give out an assist or two when needed. Sometimes he can actually accomplish the deed all by himself. Turbo is the C3PO of the Carolina Hurricanes. ready to assist as needed!

THE REBELLION

Standing against the evil empire of space nazis was the rebellion! Sure they were outnumbered, outgunned, and outmatched, but they had the force and a certain young Jedi to help them beat the empire back!

Princess Leia- Sebastian Aho

Princess Leia was the first female princess sci-fi heroine to hit the big screens. Sure she looked all glamour and glitz on the outside, was very important, and consistently seemed to need help, but she can take care of the bad guys all on her own. Aho can always use support from his teammates but give him space one on one and forget it. Down goes Jabba.

Admiral Ackbar- Trevor Van Riemsdyk

“It’s a trap!” Now you know who I’m talking about. The trap here is thinking the TVR will let you skate on by. Nope. The only question here is if TVR can swim underwater well enough or not.

Mon Mothma- Brady Skjei

We never got a chance to really get to know the leader of the rebellion. Mon Mothma helped organize the rebellion into what it is. We knew she was important, but we never got the chance to see it in the movies other than a few briefings. Skjei was well known before coming to Carolina, but the fans never got to really know him past seven games.

Wedge Antilles- Brett Pesce

Master pilot and defected Imperial. Wedge Antilles was a master of precision. He was also a very lucky man, who used luck as a skill instead of a crutch. The same can be said of Brett Pesce. Pesce on the ice is where he works best. A criminally underrated defender who we all hope gets better soon enough to see him back on the ice.

Bounty Hunters

These guys were cool. They were weird, but they were cool. Darth Vader was extremely powerful, but he turned to these creepy looking gunslingers to get his dirty work done. We loved it.

Boba Fett- Jake Gardiner

“You’re no good to me dead.” This dude spoke like three lines and immediately became a fan favorite with a cult following. His sweet armor did all the talking. His downfall was his clumsy jetpack and the bad luck of a blast hitting it. Jake’s downfall was a similar clumsiness and lack of luck. But just like Gardiner’s ability to rise again in the late stages, here is hoping that we see Fett again.

Bossk- Vincent Trocheck

This reptile bounty hunter was like Godzilla in a flight suit. He was really cool and didn’t wear shoes. But his visuals were about all we got from him. Same with Vincent Trocheck. Unlike his Trandoshan counterpart, Vincent is actually good looking. Now to get more than seven games out of him this season.

IG-88- Joel Edmundson

IG-88 was that big looming droid bounty hunter that everyone seems to remember seeing but not remember where. While we didn’t get to see the IG series of droids action until the Mandalorian, he was still really cool and threatening. You just didn’t mess with that much metal built to kill. Steady Eddy is a looming player on the ice that removes sudden urges of violence in the opposition as well.

Greedo- Sami Vatanen

Poor Greedo. He gets taken off the board in the movies before he can even get a shot off. What’s his back story? Who is going to miss him? Who knows? He was gone before he ever got a chance to really appear. Kind of like Sami Vatanen.

VILLIANS

The Star Wars movies had some great villains, but not all of them had red lightsabers and space magic. Some were just downright evil in their own rights.

Jabba the Hutt- James Reimer

Now, most of the time being compared to Jabba the Hutt is an insult. But let’s give the big space slug some credit, he was a gangster with a whole squad. He got things done. James Reimer gets things done in net and sometimes it feels like he is bigger than he is as he fills the net and stops all pucks.

Grand Moff Tarkin- Brock McGinn

Moff Tarkin was absolutely ruthless. This dude has the biggest kill count in the whole trilogy. Forget Vader, who Tarkin had on a leash, Tarkin destroyed a whole planet and made Leia watch him kill her entire family with a single sentence. But in the end, Tarkin left us all desiring more. McGinn had the most important goal of last year’s playoff run and left us all desiring more.

“You may fire when ready.”

Admiral Motti- Ryan Dzingel

Who the heck is Admiral Motti? Well, he is the one who got a neck hug from Darth Vader from across the room for being a little brat. He was smiling a little too much and well, he had to learn his lesson. That’s okay, Vader was having a good day and let him live. Dzingel is equally a dastardly smiling weirdo, but like Motti, way too valuable to let go.

SITH LORDS

The badest of the bad. These two were beyond evil and cut down anyone who stood in their way. A master and apprentice. The perfect villains of a space opera.

Darth Vader- Jordan Staal

Anakin Skywalker. So many twists and turns in that tragic tale. And I am talking about how he was portrayed in the original trilogy. That armor was something else. Epic, terrifying, and sad all at the same time. He was always angry, but he carried himself with power. When he spoke you listened.

Jordan Staal is the Vader of the Carolina Hurricanes. He might be up there in age, but he was around long enough to carry the mantel from his older brother and be a power for the Carolina Hurricanes. He also carries the same leadership aspects of Anakin. When he speaks, he doesn’t muddle his words.

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Emperor Palpatine- Warren Foegele

“Good, good, Let the hate flow through you.” When we met the emperor we saw an ugly figure that Vader and the rest of them were in awe and fear of. How could this old man really put that much fear into people? Then we saw the force lightning. We saw him pit father against son. We saw how much control he really had.

That is Warren Foegele for this team. We saw some semblance of power at first, but when the cards were on the table, Foegele created hate for the Carolina Hurricanes in their opponents. His response? It fueled him for more post-season heroics as the team went deep into the playoffs and returned to the Conference Finals.

Question For CC Readers: Who is your favorite Star Wars Character?