Hockey in the House of Ruth?

A Ranger vs Islanders tilt on New Years Day played outdoors in Yankee Stadium ....I think would be an incredibly cool thing for the league to stage.

"The House that Ruth Built" may be used to stage a hockey event.

Newsday reported on Wednesday that the NHL is looking at the possibility of having the New York Rangers play the New York Islanders in a regular season game at Yankee Stadium.

"A request has been made to use the stadium for an NHL game in the 2006-2007 season," Yankees spokesman Rick Cerrone confirmed to Newsday. "The matter is under discussion."

According to the newspaper, league officials met with both teams as well as city officials and NBC to discuss the feasibility of the event, which would tentatively take place on Jan. 1, 2007.

One NHL team executive informed the newspaper that dates in December also had been presented. NBC is said to be seeking New Year's Day.

"Everybody likes the idea," a source told Newsday. "But there are some obstacles. The question is whether the stadium will be usable at that time of year for that purpose."

One of the obstacles could be the plumbing and water pipes, which would require maintenance to create and maintain the ice surface.

Man, I hope they pull it off.

Ray Lewis on Skates

That's what Chris Stewart the Av's number 1 pick in this weekends draft makes me think me of. A hard hitting winger that can put a serious hurt on opposing players, seperating them from pucks and creating scoring opportunities. The kid even played linebacker for a year that he took off from hockey recently. He even looks like Ray a bit if you ask me. His potential as a power forward will be very, very intersting and exciting to watch.

I think it's a great pick.

Stewart, 18, had 37 goals, 50 assists and 113 penalty minutes in 62 games for the Kingston Frontenacs in the Ontario Hockey League this season. Stewart, who is from Toronto, was rated the eighth best North American skater by the NHL's Central Scouting Bureau and the 14th best player available by The Hockey News[...]

Stewart, whose brother Anthony played in 10 games with the Florida Panthers this season, is a hard-hitting power forward who lists Detroit's Brendan Shanahan as his favorite player.

"He has that great combination of size, very good strength and skill," Avalanche chief scout Jim Hammett said of Stewart.
"We had him very high on our list. You don't find a player that can skate like this, combined with the raw power that he has with his offensive upside."

Hammett said that Stewart could play in the NHL "right now from a physical standpoint," but would return to his junior team for a couple more years of seasoning.

Stewart played football two years ago and is built like a linebacker, so he needs to redistribute his weight and lose a few pounds to increase his speed.

"His speed is already outstanding," Hammett said.

A power forward... with speed. Now there's a winning combination for the Av's in the new NHL style of play.