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Buzz: Rangers To Play In Yankee Stadium in 2011?

by Adam Rotter on July 21st, 2009 at 7:00 am

There is considerable buzz going around that the Yankee Stadium will host the 2011 Winter Classic, where the Rangers will most likely play either the, Islanders, Capitals or Maple Leafs.

Yankees COO Lonn Trost said yesterday that he hopes the Stadium will host the game on January 1st, 2011, though no promise from the NHL has been made.

The old Yankee Stadium had been rumored to be the site of last seasons Winter  Classic, which was held at Wrigley Field in Chicago, though a variety of problems stopped it from happening.

The Islanders with #1 pick Johnathan Tavares would be a big deal for them but may prove to be too local of a game. Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals would give the league arguable its #1 star against its biggest market and Toronto would join the Rangers in an Original Six matchup. Toronto and the Rangers are the only Original Six teams not to play in an outdoor game. Montreal played Edmonton in the “Heritage Classic” 2003, Detroit and Chicago played last season and Boston hosts Philadelphia this season.

…I think the Isles are the logical choice but the Original Six possibility with Toronto is intriguing. Washington should host their own game in Washington so Ovechkin can get the hometwom treatment that he deserves. All this buzz is great and all but we won’t get an official announcement until basically a year from now.
  • Conor Mac

    What were the problems with Yankee Stadium? Maybe this is my New York attitude coming out, but I have a problem that Gary Bettman and the NHL didn’t try harder to have a game at the Old Yankee Stadium before it started to be ripped down. Talk about a historic event. Just another example of how Gary Bettman is an awful commissioner. He could have capitalized on such a great storyline. However, he screwed up, and lost his chance to play a game of hockey at a stadium where Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, and Mickey Mantle called home. Now, of all places, he picks Fenway Park!!! Wrigley Field and Fenway will be there for years to come, but the Old Yankee Stadium is gone. Bettman is an idiot. I am sick an tired of this guy. He really doesn’t know how to market the NHL.

    P.S.

    I am a Mets fan. So, there is no Yankee bias here.

    • Adam Rotter

      It was logistical problems, something with the plumbing staying on in the Stadium long after the season ends and into the winter.
      I think Bettman and CO. probably wanted the game there but it would to much of a hassle with the Yankees to get it done

      • Conor Mac

        I remember that. However, I like blaming Bettman. It just feels right. The guy can’t market this league. He should step down right away.

    • beckfan

      I also think that along with the plumbing, there was word that the Yankees brass (i.e. Lon Tross) didnt want the last game at Yankee Stadium being a hockey game.