The Zamboni is an institution in hockey.

Anyone who grew up attending hockey games as a child likely has fond memories of the machine slowly circling the rink, humming along while leaving a pristine, glistening sheet of ice in its wake. Perhaps some even had the honor of riding shotgun, listening to the 1990 song “(I Wanna Drive the) Zamboni” by the Gear Daddies.

For those who played hockey at any level, the Zamboni has served as a universal clock for the start of the game. You’re in your dressing room lacing up your skates when a teammate walks through the door and says, “The Zam has two turns left,” and suddenly everyone in the room knows exactly how much time they have to finish getting dressed.

The Zamboni is so iconic the actual name for the machine — ice resurfacer — is rarely if ever spoken. Perhaps the only way to make the vehicle more revered by hockey lovers, is to fill it with delicious food.

That’s exactly what the Vegas Golden Knights have done.

The team’s newest promotion is selling small, plastic Zambonis at concession stands inside T-Mobile Arena, filled with chicken fingers and fries.

“It was something that would be memorable for all fans, something that is unique to the game of hockey, and something that was just very different from a traditional bucket or cup that would create a lasting experience,” said Kris Knief, the Golden Knights’ vice president of strategy and innovation. “It’s one of the most iconic elements of hockey. It’s not just youth-driven. It’s every demographic across the board.”

The chicken-filled Zamboni costs approximately $30, and the sales are already exceeding the team’s expectations. They sold more than 2,000 units during the first 10 home games.

“We didn’t know if this would be sticky or not, but in the end the sentiment has been fantastic,” Knief said. “We’re getting calls from several different NHL clubs around the league, and Levy (a restaurant and hospitality company that supplies food and beverage for T-Mobile Arena) is looking at other elements of what this concept could be for different venues outside of the traditional core-four sports.”

Kid is obsessed with Zambonis and calls them “momma” which is incredible. Gravy boat is definitely second to chicken finger basket Zamboni. pic.twitter.com/OQsymyOFnp

— Everett Duke (@Everett_Duke) November 20, 2024

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The chicken buckets aren’t the only Zamboni-themed promotion for the Golden Knights this season. The team also created a special ticket package for the Nov. 11 game against the Hurricanes that included a Zamboni gravy boat — a promotion that is becoming a popular trend around the NHL.

Vegas’ ticketing department generally orders 500 units for each special collectible giveaway in order to make it rare or exclusive, but Vegas knew the demand for the Zambonis would be much higher than usual.

“We doubled the order size just because we knew it was going to be such a success,” said Amanda Fleming, senior director of group and event suite ticket sales for the Golden Knights.

Fans received the gravy boat as a part of their single-game tickets, and the team also offered season-ticket holders who already have tickets the chance to add the gravy boat on for an additional $45. The gravy boats are currently selling on eBay for around $65, but there haven’t been too many that have made it to the secondary market yet.

“As you would imagine, it was one of our largest add-ons to date,” Fleming said.

The Golden Knights didn’t invent the gravy boat promotion. The Detroit Red Wings have been producing them for years, and ran their promotion this month. Other NHL teams, such as the Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals, will be doing gravy-boat giveaways. But as with just about everything, Vegas did have to put its own twist on it by painting it in chrome gold.

“The factory pushed back a couple of times just because you can’t microwave that chrome material, or put it in the dishwasher, but we really wanted the look and feel of what is true to the VGK brand that we’ve created,” Fleming explained.

Kitchen tables across the Las Vegas Valley will be glistening with gold Zambonis overflowing with gravy this Thanksgiving. The gleaming, lustrous centerpieces are sure to spark conversation, which is exactly what the team is hoping for.

“Our anticipation is to continue to evolve with more holiday, family talking points,” Fleming said. “We started with the apron (giveaway last season). We have a few more ideas in the mix to continue to bring Golden Knights merchandise to the family setting.”

The creative process is a lengthy one. Fleming says the team begins brainstorming ideas in March for promotions for the following season. That leaves plenty of time for them to work out the licensing and overseas production.

Vegas typically has approximately 20 special ticket packages throughout the season. They held an “Emo Knight” in October with distressed graphic t-shirt giveaways and puck rock music in the arena, and will host “Hello Kitty Knight” in late January.

The minor league AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights, have followed suit. They gave team-themed Zamboni gravy boats to the first 5,000 fans in attendance for their game against the Abbotsford Canucks on Nov. 22.

we know what your holiday season needs! 🎁 pic.twitter.com/m8iSR2Yphp

— Henderson Silver Knights (@HSKnights) November 7, 2024

The Zamboni-themed promotions are a universal success, so expect plenty more to come. Whether you need your ice resurfaced, your mashed potatoes smothered, or your chicken fingers kept warm, there’s a Zamboni for that.

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(Top photo courtesy of Vegas Golden Knights)

In the NFL, Patrick Mahomes makes your team a contender. In the NBA, Nikola Jokic makes your team a contender.

In baseball, as the Angels and their fans know all too well, one player does not make your team a contender. Over the past decade, Mike Trout could not do it all by himself, and he and Shohei Ohtani could not do it all by themselves.

The Angels agreed Monday to a three-year, $63-million contract with pitcher Yusei Kikuchi, according to a person familiar with the deal but not authorized to comment publicly. The team has not announced the deal because Kikuchi has yet to complete his physical examination.

With the deal, the Angels topped the $100-million mark in holiday spending before Thanksgiving, buying six players in their 30s: Kikuchi and fellow starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks, designated hitter Jorge Soler, backup catcher Travis d’Arnaud, backup infielders Scott Kingery and Kevin Newman.

Kikuchi and Soler are about impact, the others are about depth. But if this is really about contention, the Angels are back to being all about Trout.

How good, really, are the Angels? They lost 99 games last season, the worst team in franchise history. They have resisted a full rebuilding, and the best young player to emerge — shortstop Zach Neto — is coming off shoulder surgery and might not be ready when the new season starts.

No team made the playoffs last season with fewer than 86 victories. Could the Angels really go from 63 victories to 86 in one year?

The Kansas City Royals went from 56 victories (and 106 losses!) two seasons ago to 86 victories last season, and into the playoffs.

The Royals’ primary pickups in free agency: starting pitchers Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha. That couldn’t have worked any better: Lugo and Wacha each finished among the top 10 in earned run average in the American League, and the duo combined to pitch 373 innings.

The Royals’ starters ranked second in the league in ERA, at 3.55. The Angels’ starters ranked last, at 4.97.

Kikuchi and Hendricks combined to pitch 306 innings last season. Hendricks has posted an ERA below 4.00 once in the last four seasons; Kikuchi has done that once in his six major league seasons, but he posted a 2.70 ERA in 10 starts following a trade from the Toronto Blue Jays to the Houston Astros last summer.

The Angels bet $39 million on Tyler Anderson after he put up a career year for the Dodgers. They now are betting $63 million on Kikuchi after he put up two brilliant months for the Astros. Such is the price of durable if not spectacular pitching.

The Angels still have significant needs: more starting pitching, even more relief pitching, infield, big bat. Their lineup is thin, their bullpen thinner.

It is uncertain how much more owner Arte Moreno might spend this offseason. Including Soler, who was acquired in a salary-dump trade, the Angels have taken on $107 million this month. The number of teams spending more than $110 million on free agents last winter: five (three of them in the National League West: the Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants).

Let’s get back to the Royals for a moment. Their pitching was good; their offense was not. The Royals had four players with at least 300 at-bats and an OPS+ above 100 — that is, better than league average. Same for the Angels.

The difference: Only one of those eight players was even 20% above league average: Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., the runner-up to Aaron Judge as AL most valuable player. Witt batted .332 with 32 home runs and had a 171+ OPS — that is, 71% better than league average.

Soler had a 121+ OPS. That helps.

But what the Angels really need are elite hitters, like Witt. Moreno already has signed two. He needs them to play, and play well.

The Angels are not counting on Anthony Rendon. If he earns playing time in spring training, great, but he has not hit a home run in 513 days.

That brings us back to Trout, the three-time MVP who has not played even 120 games in a season since 2019. When Trout plays, he remains an elite hitter.

His OPS+ last season: 140 — that is, 40% better than league average. Over a full season, that would have put him within the top 10 in the AL. He played 29 games last season.

No one really knows how many games Trout might play next season. Even the Angels appear mystified. Their promotional calendar usually is highlighted by Trout giveaways: bobbleheads, jersey replicas, T-shirts, even fish hats.

On Monday, the Angels announced their 2025 promotional calendar. The five bobbleheads are all blank faces, to be announced at a later date.

The Angels have gone 10 years without a postseason appearance, the longest such drought in the majors. This offseason appears little different from most recent offseasons for the Angels: patch some holes, add some depth, hope for a run at .500 and then some luck.

The luck would come from within the house. Mike Trout, an Angels nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

And now, 20 Final Thoughts from Week 13, when four of the College Football Playoff selection committee’s top 16 teams lost to opponents with 5-5 or 4-6 records.

1. No. 5 Indiana finally played its big game against No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday and lost by 23 points. Yet, by night’s end, the Hoosiers found themselves in much better shape to make the Playoff than … Alabama.

2. Don’t let SEC flacks tell you after Saturday, “This just goes to show you how tough it is to win in this conference.” Not this year. No. 7 Alabama (8-3, 4-3 SEC) lost 24-3 at Oklahoma (6-5, 2-5), a team that has spent much of the season struggling to find the end zone. No. 9 Ole Miss (8-3, 4-3) lost 24-17 at Florida (6-5, 4-4), which until recently wasn’t sure its coach would make it to 2025. And No. 15 Texas A&M (8-3, 5-2) went down 43-41 in four overtimes at Auburn (5-6, 2-5), even though its distinguishing trait this season has been its ability to cough up turnovers.

Even after all that, the Aggies can still reach the SEC Championship Game if they knock off No. 3 Texas (10-1, 6-1) next week. They’d face No. 10 Georgia (9-2, 6-2), which clinched its berth on a day when it faced UMass. If that matchup happens, it would be the most combined losses in an SEC title game (five) since 2007.

A conference that assumed it would be getting at least four, if not five berths to the first 12-team Playoff may now find itself with a maximum of three.

3. Alabama’s loss — the first game since 2011 in which it did not score a touchdown — was unspeakably bad for first-year coach Kalen DeBoer, who has overseen the program’s first three-loss regular season in 14 years. The Tide finally had cleansed the stench of October losses at Vanderbilt and Tennessee and could write their ticket to Atlanta. Instead, a swarming Oklahoma defense pressured Jalen Milroe (11 of 26 for 164 yards) into a three-interception night, while the Sooners’ 127th-ranked offense saw freshman running back Xavier Robinson (18 carries, 107 yards, two touchdowns) and quarterback Jackson Arnold (25 carries, 131 yards) run all over the Tide.

This was a seminal win for third-year Oklahoma coach Brent Venables, whose midseason switch to Joe Jon Finley as offensive coordinator paid off. But unless Alabama still backdoors into the CFP, the first season of the post-Saban era officially will go down as a disaster.

4. Since losing 32-31 at current No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Ohio State (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten) has answered its biggest questions. They were all on display in the Buckeyes’ 38-15 drubbing of No. 5 Indiana (10-1, 7-1). Quarterback Will Howard, whose late clock-management gaffe doomed the Buckeyes in Eugene, has been impressive since. He finished 22 of 26 for 201 yards and two TDs with one tipped pick Saturday. Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles was criticized for his defense’s inability to get to the quarterback against Oregon, but it has had 18 sacks in the five games since, including five Saturday. And, of course, popular punching bag Ryan Day emerged from that Oregon game with a 2-6 record against top-five foes. He has doubled his top-five wins since (Penn State and Indiana).

Ohio State’s biggest question remains its offensive line, though the Buckeyes did not miss injured center Seth McLaughlin in this one. Even so, Ohio State will be a popular national title pick come Selection Sunday.

5. The Hoosiers, who close with 1-10 Purdue next week, present one heck of a riddle for the committee. On the one hand, they likely will finish 11-1, with 10 blowout victories, while playing in a major conference. On the other hand, at most three of Indiana’s 11 wins will have come against bowl-eligible teams, and even those three likely will be 6-6. And then, in the one chance the Hoosiers had to prove themselves against an elite opponent, they lost big.

Still, they’ve only lost once, and we’re down to eight Power 4 teams that can say that. The best guess is the committee will drop Indiana to No. 10, below 9-2 Tennessee and Georgia and just behind 10-1 SMU.

Safe for now, with almost no breathing room.

GO DEEPER

Curt Cignetti thinks Indiana is still Playoff worthy. In 12-team format, we get to debate

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6. The good news for Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin is he no longer has to worry about his team reaching the SEC Championship Game, losing and getting knocked out of the Playoff. The Rebels just skipped right to the last part.

Ole Miss committed every self-inflicted wound imaginable in Gainesville. Twice on fourth-and-1 deep in Gators territory, Kiffin called a direct snap to 325-pound defensive tackle JJ Pegues. He was stuffed on both. And given two chances in the last 3:58 to send the game to overtime, quarterback Jaxson Dart threw two inexcusable interceptions.

Barring a miracle, the most hyped Ole Miss team in a generation will spend the holidays at the Citrus/Gator/Las Vegas bowl. Florida will, too, but that’s a big victory given Billy Napier’s job status only a few weeks ago.

7. When the Big 12 opted to expand from eight teams (after Texas and Oklahoma left) to 16, it inadvertently created possibly the flattest conference ever assembled. There are no alphas and no doormats, just 16 programs that can beat any of the others in a given week. And now, those teams have produced a perfectly fitting stretch run. Four teams — Arizona State, BYU, Colorado and Iowa State — sit tied atop the standings at 6-2 in league play. And none of them play each other next weekend.

If all four win their last game, the Sun Devils and Cyclones will meet in Arlington. But what chance do you give that happening?

8. Kansas (5-6, 4-4 Big 12) is the living embodiment of Big 12 parity. Ranked in the preseason Top 25, the Jayhawks limped to a 2-6 start before upsetting 7-1 Iowa State. And then upsetting 9-0 BYU. And then, on Saturday, likely ending the Playoff hopes of No. 16 Colorado (8-3, 6-2) in a 37-21 rout. Kansas, led by veteran tailback Devin Neal (37 carries, 207 yards, three TDs), played bully ball, running for 331 yards against the Big 12’s third-best rushing defense entering the weekend.

It’s an abrupt turn of events for Deion Sanders’ team, which entered that game on a four-game winning streak with its eyes on a Big 12 title. Barring everything breaking their way next week, stars Shedeur Sanders (23 of 29 for 266 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions) and Travis Hunter (eight catches, 125 yards, two touchdowns) may be playing their last college games Friday against Oklahoma State (3-8, 0-8).

9. Arizona State has had a hard time through the years building fan loyalty in its pro sports market, but second-year coach and alum Kenny Dillingham is doing everything possible to change that. Led by star running back Cam Skattebo (28 carries, 147 yards, three touchdowns), the No. 21 Sun Devils (9-2, 6-2) jumped to a 21-3 halftime lead against No. 14 BYU (9-2, 6-2) before hanging on for dear life. They prevailed 28-23 only after a premature field storming and a BYU Hail Mary attempt that was caught just short of the end zone.

Arizona State, 3-9 a year ago, was picked to finish last in the conference. It may beat that by 15 spots.

GO DEEPER

Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham has proved himself a great coach — with room to improve

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10. No. 22 Iowa State (9-2, 6-2) has gone 112 years since its last conference championship, and for a brief moment against Utah (4-7, 1-7), it looked like the drought might continue. The Utes, down to fifth-string quarterback Luke Bottari, drove 91 yards to take a 28-24 lead with 5:51 left. But Cyclones counterpart Rocco Becht is no stranger to late-game drives. Iowa State went up 31-28 with 1:31 left, then Utah’s Cole Becker missed a 54-yard field goal attempt to tie.

Iowa State is in the Big 12 Championship Game with a win next week, but it has the toughest remaining game of the four contenders, against 8-3 Kansas State. “Farmageddon” does not usually have such high stakes.

11. Any hopes of a service academy crashing the CFP likely ended Saturday when No. 6 Notre Dame (10-1) humbled No. 19 Army (9-1) 49-14, ending the nation’s longest winning streak at 13. The Irish defense was just too good. Army was averaging an FBS-best 334.9 rushing yards but had 207, including 71 on its last garbage-time drive. Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love needed just seven carries to rack up 130 yards and two scores (he also caught a touchdown pass). And so, it’s down to 6-5 USC standing between the Irish and a CFP first-round home game.

The Black Knights still have plenty ahead of them: They’ll play for the AAC championship on Dec. 6 against Tulane and then, of course, face Navy. But even were Army to knock off the Green Wave, it’s doubtful it would finish ranked higher than the Mountain West champion.

12. Seeing all those SEC road teams go down Saturday should elicit some appreciation for No. 4 Penn State (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten), which survived 26-25 at Minnesota (6-5, 4-4) despite digging itself an early 10-0 hole. The Nittany Lions ran out the clock with a six-minute drive in which they converted three fourth-and-one situations, including a daring James Franklin call. Penn State faked a punt from its 34-yard line with freshman tight end Luke Reynolds breaking off a 32-yard run.

Speaking of tight ends, I’ve been including Penn State’s Tyler Warren on my Heisman Trophy straw poll ballot for the past few weeks. That won’t change after he caught eight passes for 102 yards.

13. Seven programs have moved up from a Group of 5 league to a Power 5 league since 2011. The first six all finished below .500 in conference play in their first year. The seventh, No. 13 SMU, has yet to lose in conference play. The Mustangs (10-1, 7-0 ACC) clinched a spot in the ACC championship game with a 33-7 win at Virginia (5-6, 3-4). SMU has won eight straight games, including its last three by double digits, and it looks like a more complete team with each week. The committee has not been impressed with the Mustangs, but with teams above them losing, they’re moving into potential at-large territory, win or lose the conference.

14. SMU’s opponent in Charlotte will be No. 8 Miami (10-1, 6-1) if the Canes win at Syracuse (8-3, 4-3) next week or No. 17 Clemson (9-2, 7-1) if Miami loses. The Canes broke open a close game in the fourth quarter to run away from Wake Forest 42-14, holding the Demon Deacons (4-7, 2-5) without an offensive touchdown after the first quarter. This season has been a long time coming for Miami fans, who’ve spent most of the past 20 years in purgatory. This is the program’s first 10-win season since 2017, and even that team lost three in a row to end the season. The 2024 edition is aiming for a more satisfying ending.

15. All those SEC teams losing Saturday introduces the possibility of the ACC getting a second CFP berth. If Miami and SMU both go into the conference title game at 11-1, it would be surprising if the loser fell out of the field.

And then there’s Clemson.

Dabo Swinney’s team, which handled The Citadel 51-14, should move to the cusp of the top 12 on Tuesday heading into a home showdown with current No. 18 South Carolina (8-3). Should the Gamecocks win, they could get blocked out by their losses to Alabama and Ole Miss, but Clemson could have a shot if someone takes an unexpected second loss next weekend.

16. No. 12 Boise State (10-1, 7-0 Mountain West) clinched a berth in the Mountain West Championship Game, which it will host, with a harder-than-expected 17-13 win at Wyoming (2-9, 2-5). Heisman hopeful Ashton Jeanty briefly left with an injury but came back out to finish with 169 yards on 19 carries, becoming the first FBS 2,000-yard rusher in five years. (He’s now at 2,062.) Jeanty will be playing on championship weekend, but with Colorado losing, his top Heisman competition, Colorado’s Hunter, might not be.

Boise State now seems to have a real chance to finish above the Big 12 champion and earn the No. 4 seed and the accompanying first-round bye. Keep an eye on how high No. 21 Arizona State moves up on Tuesday.

17. Well folks, they did it. The Nebraska Cornhuskers (6-5, 3-5 Big Ten) are going to a bowl game for the first time since 2016, ending the longest drought of any Power 4 team.

Nebraska, which entered Saturday having lost four straight games, avoided one of its patented last-minute losses by hammering Wisconsin (5-6, 3-5) 44-25, ending a 10-game losing streak to the Badgers. A whole lot of demons slayed in one afternoon. Now, Wisconsin has its own streak on the line. Luke Fickell’s team needs to beat Minnesota next week to avoid the program’s first losing season since 2001.

18. USC (6-5, 4-5 Big Ten) did its best to salvage an otherwise miserable season with a 19-13 win over rival UCLA (4-7, 3-6) at a half-full (half-empty?) Rose Bowl. Trojans quarterback Jayden Maiava has not been spectacular since taking over the starting job two weeks ago, but he has made plays when needed. USC’s go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter came when Maiava was flushed nearly to the sideline but found his footing and hit Ja’Kobi Lane in the end zone. Next week, the Trojans have a heck of a step up in competition: No. 6 Notre Dame heads to L.A. with a CFP berth in its sights.

19. The first Pac-2 Championship Game ended dramatically, with Oregon State’s Everett Hayes kicking a 55-yard field goal with 20 seconds left to lift the Beavers (5-6) to a surprising 41-38 win over Washington State (8-3). Oregon State had lost five straight games, most recently a 28-0 head-scratcher against Air Force. Now it has a chance to go bowling, but it would have to win Friday at Boise State. Wazzu’s season has taken a disappointing turn since getting to 8-1 and No. 18 in the CFP rankings. First, it lost a heartbreaker at New Mexico and now this, despite the continued heroics of quarterback John Mateer (250 yards passing, 75 yards rushing, four TDs).

20. Finally, Cal (6-5, 2-5 ACC) won its fourth consecutive Big Game, 24-21 over rival Stanford (3-8, 2-6). The Bears had been trailing all game until engineering a 98-yard touchdown drive to take the lead with 2:40 left.

On one hand, these were two programs far from national relevance, marginalized by realignment, playing a game on ACC Network that likely no one outside of their fans watched. On the other hand, this was a season- and career-defining game for those involved, as evidenced by Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza’s extremely emotional and eloquent postgame interview.

Highly recommend.

The full Fernando Mendoza post game interview after defeating Stanford

I’m not crying, you are#CALGORITHM #GOBEARS pic.twitter.com/5EPIiq7uwM

— c (@calgoldnbears) November 23, 2024

(Photo: Brian Bahr / Getty Images)