Yankee Stadium to host Rangers, Devils and Islanders in 2014

Yankee Stadium will host a National Hockey League double-header next season, with the New York Rangers facing the New Jersey Devils on Jan. 26 and playing the New York Islanders three days later — all in the week leading up to Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium.

The New York rivalry games complete the NHL’s 2014 Stadium Series, which also includes a Jan. 25 matchup between the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, and a March 1 contest between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks at Chicago’s Soldier Field.

The Rangers will be at least get a little familiar with the Yankee Stadium ice before they take on the Islanders. The Blue Shirts will first play the Devils before the Isles come to the Bronx.  Both games will be considered road games for the Rangers.

"The New York Rangers are honored to participate in these two historic games at Yankee Stadium, bringing hockey into the home of another one of New York's iconic sports franchises," Rangers GM Glen Sather said. "Playing hockey outdoors takes the game back to its roots and reminds us all why we laced up our skates as youngsters."

The pair of games will be the first hockey games played at the new Yankee Stadium, which has a capacity of 50,291.

"Our fan-base is one of the most passionate in the NHL," Islanders GM Garth Snow said. "The support we consistently receive from our fans was on display during the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs and I expect it to be on an even greater scale when we take on the Rangers."

“The innovative nature of the Stadium Series affords the opportunity to have all three NHL teams in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area play, outdoors, at one of the most-celebrated stadiums in the world,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “We’ll be able to create a multi-faceted, multi-day experience for our fans.”

The Rangers, Islanders and Devils have combined to win 11 Stanley Cup championships, including eight of the past 32.

Hockey fans protest lockout outside NHL offices in Manhattan

A couple dozen hockey fans — holding picket signs and posters — protested the impending NHL lockout Saturday afternoon by picketing outside the league's offices in mid-town Manhattan.

With the lockout looming at midnight and the labor dispute at a standstill, the angry fans sided with the players and  held up signs criticizing the owners and commissioner Gary Bettman.

One sign read: "Greedy owners killing NHL" and another had Bettman's face Photoshopped on a picture of The Count from "Sesame Street" with the words: "One Two Three Lockouts." An NHL lockout would be the third lockout to hit a major sports league in the last 18 months — after the ones in the NFL and NBA.

The protesting fans — many wearing NHL team jerseys — waved their homemade signs and chanted against the league.  Some even posed for pictures with passing sightseers outside the offices and NHL store located at Sixth Avenue and 47th Street.

One man, wearing a New York Rangers jersey, held up a sign which read: "Lockout #the players lockout#fans."

The lockout deadline is midnight Saturday.  The NHL says there will be no bargaining with the union, according to The Associated Press.