Now that training camp is in session, teams are starting to put out their promotional schedules for the new season that’s almost about to begin. Fans love to find out what goodies and giveaways their favorite fans are offering to bring them out to games. Bobbleheads are always a favorite. A few seasons ago we even commended the Columbus Blue Jackets for having a Bob Ross bobblehead.
Players, current and former, are always the go to pick for who to immortalize in bobblehead form. The Vegas Golden Knights have decided to give the honor to a Las Vegas icon. This guy never saw the Golden Knights and passed away before an NHL team was a golden twinkle in Bill Foley’s eye. Yet his undeniable legacy on the strip lives on. That’s why the Golden Knights will be offering Frank Sinatra bobbleheads.
The famous singer left his mark in Vegas with the likes of his fellow Rat Pack members Dena Martin and Sammy David Jr. Streets are named after him and old timers remember the glory days of him playing to sold old crowds at the Sands and Caesar’s Palace. A tribute show still plays in town and the Wynn Resort has an Italian restaurant themed to the singer’s legacy simply named “Sinatra”.
The bobblehead is a part of a promotion for Italian Heritage Month when the Golden Knights take on the Carolina Hurricanes on Oct. 20. A special ticket package needs to be purchased to get a bobblehead. The bobblehead features the chairman of the board dressed classy in his trademark fedora while leaning on a hockey stick. Gold accents are featured on Sinatra’s hat and tie. A closer look reveals the Golden Knights logo as a label pin on his suit jacket. The base of the bobblehead says “Sinatra”, just in case you forgot who this larger than life figure is.
The Golden Knights also participated in this year’s Las Vegas Feast of San Gennaro. For those unfamiliar with the term, a “feast” is basically a giant Italian street fair and carnival with the Vegas version being on off shot of the famed Feast of San Gennaro in New York’s Little Italy. The Golden Knights mascot and cheerleaders took part in the feast’s procession (i.e. parade) and had a booth as well.
We’re surprised the New York City area hockey teams didn’t have a Sinatra bobblehead night first (the New York Yankees have, for the record). The Yankees version looks incredibly like the Golden Knights version, with the exception of holding a baseball and swapping a bat for a hockey stick. If the Golden Knights end up with a few extras, be sure to send one “My Way” (see what we did there) because this is sure to be a highly sought after item. Just recently we mentioned how the Las Vegas Aviators, the area’s minor league baseball team, would have a Golden Knights baseball jersey giveaway. Do you think this beats that one?
Frank Sinatra seemed to have no hockey fandom. There’s no record of him rooting for the New Jersey Devils from his home state or the area’s original New York Rangers, although he did have famed concerts at Madison Square Garden in the 1970’s. Sinatra is closely associated with the New York Yankees who play his rendition of “New York, New York” after home wins. In reality Sinatra’s best known sports fandom was the rival Los Angeles Dodgers.