Öffentlicher Bereich » hree-overtime games since the 1951-52 Baltimor

LOS ANGELES -- Dan Craig and his crew have been at Dodger Stadium from dusk to dawn every night for the past week, patiently building a sheet of NHL-quality ice in the middle of the iconic baseball field. Theyre just about ready to drop the puck in sunny Southern California. The ice is solid, the fans have bought nearly every ticket, and the two local teams are eager for their historic showdown under the lights and stars. Only a few tweaks remain before the Los Angeles Kings face the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday in the NHLs first official outdoor game in a warm-weather climate. "Its hard not to get excited about it now that its almost here," Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf said. "It seems like everybody is talking about it." While the NHL raised plenty of eyebrows with the announcement of outdoor hockey in one of the nations hottest places, Craig has always been confident that this unorthodox game wouldnt turn into a swim meet. The NHLs ice specialist is working a vicious schedule this winter with preparations for six outdoor games, but hes most excited about the chance to do the improbable in Chavez Ravine. "This is the challenge that everybody who works with me wanted to try," Craig said. "The crew thats in New York (for two upcoming games at Yankee Stadium) doesnt want to be in New York. They want to be here." Even with daytime temperatures in the 80s and abnormal humidity in Los Angeles over the past week, Craig is quietly confident about the ice sheet created by his meticulous crew and the huge refrigeration unit in the 53-foot truck beyond centre field. They work at night, building and grooming more than 10,000 gallons of water into a 1 3/4-inch sheet that stays cool under a heat-reflecting blanket during the day. The ice is out of the suns reach by roughly 4 p.m. each day, and thats when Craigs crew goes to work. "We are very patient with what we do," Craig said. "Our guys arent getting a whole lot of sleep. I know I wont be getting a whole lot of sleep." Craig said he could have made NHL-quality ice just about anywhere in North America for several years now, but the league didnt expand its outdoor exploits to a warm-weather city until expanding its series of stadium games this winter. Glycol coolant is constantly circulated from the truck and below the rink, keeping the ice temperature around 22 degrees. The outdoor temperature is likely to be in the high 50s at game time on Saturday night, which would be plenty cold enough for Craigs purposes. "Its a hard concept for anybody thats not in the field to understand," Craig said. "Ive got two very efficient systems that were marrying together." Craig and Kings executive Luc Robitaille skated on the ice Wednesday, with Robitaille pronouncing it ready to go. The Kings and Ducks will hold separate practices at Dodger Stadium on Friday to get used to the rinks peculiarities. The boards, benches and glass were trucked into Dodger Stadium from the Winter Classic at Ann Arbors Michigan Stadium, although they wont need the heaters. The NHL is also embracing the unusual setting with a variety of amusements in the Dodger Stadium bowl -- everything from a beach volleyball court and a pond to two performance stages. The game will be the NHLs first outdoor venture west of Alberta, but its not the first attempt at Southwest outdoor hockey. Robitaille and the Kings played an exhibition against the New York Rangers in Las Vegas in 1991, and everything went fairly well -- except for the swarm of grasshoppers that jumped onto the ice. "These guys know what theyre doing, and the ice is going to be great," Robitaille said. "This is an incredible opportunity for these two teams to bring hockey to a new level in Southern California." Cheap Ken Boyer Jersey . - Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr has nothing but good problems right now. Cheap Tim McCarver Jersey .Jeff Green, playing in his second preseason game after missing the first four because of a calf strain, had 18 points. The Celtics (3-3) shot 47.2 per cent from the floor and made 15 of 37 3-point attempts. http://www.cheapstlouiscardinalsjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-mike-shannon-jersey . The Blue Jackets got goals from Cam Atkinson, Nick Foligno, Boone Jenner and R.J. Umberger and Curtis McElhinney posted his first shutout since 2011 in a 4-0 victory on Friday night. Cheap Cardinals Jerseys China .1 million contract. The club said that Boll will earn $950,000 in 2012-13 and $1.15 million in 2013-14. The 26-year-old Boll had two goals and one assist with 126 penalty minutes in 54 games with the Blue Jackets in 2011-12. Cheap Orlando Cepeda Jersey . At a news conference Tuesday where it was thought that the fiery Schallibaum may be shown the door after a dismal finish to the Major League Soccer season, team president Joey Saputo said no decision has been made on whether the Swiss Volcano will be back in 2014.Dallas, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Three of Rajon Rondos nine assists went to Monta Ellis, who scored 38 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 99-93 win over the short-handed San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night. Rondo also had six points and seven rebounds in his Mavericks debut, two days after he was acquired from Boston in a blockbuster trade. He missed eight of his 11 shots. He didnt shoot particularly well, but he did a lot of great things, said Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle. He did a lot of things that most guys in that position just dont do -- rebounding, making plays, things like that. Chandler Parsons added 16 points while Dirk Nowitzki and Devin Harris scored 13 apiece as Dallas earned its third consecutive win. The Spurs sat much of their roster after losing back-to-back triple-overtime games on Wednesday and Thursday. Missing Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Danny Green and Tiago Splitter -- among others -- the Spurs scored 30 points in the third quarter and had a 77-75 lead going into the fourth, but shot just 31 percent over the final 12 minutes. They have lost four in a row for the first time in almost four years. Marco Belinelli led San Antonio with 21 points, Aron Baynes scored 16 with 10 rebounds and Cory Joseph and Matt Bonner each had 14 points. Rondo, who climbed to fourth place on Bostons all-time assists list in eight- plus seasons with the Celtics, had two turnovers before picking up his first assist as a Maverick. His pass to Ellis on the wing led to a 3-pointer that tied the score with 5:36 remaining in the first quarter. Later, his niinth assist also went to Ellis for a 3 that tied the score with 3:32 left in the game.dddddddddddd Ellis scored 11 of the Mavs final 13 points, including a layup with 1:48 remaining to give them the lead for good. Carlisle called Ellis the best player on the floor tonight without question. Without him getting 38 points, the coach said, this was going to go the other way. The Spurs went scoreless over the final two minutes of the game. They were the first team to play consecutive three-overtime games since the 1951-52 Baltimore Bullets, who at least came away victorious in one of theirs. San Antonio fell 129-119 to Portland on Friday night after losing a 117-116 thriller to Memphis on Wednesday. I thought we were great, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. We could have handled the ball better. Giving up 25 points off turnovers on the road is not going to make it easy to win a game, but I thought the effort and the play out of these guys was really spectacular. The Spurs had a 47-42 lead at halftime in this one behind Belinellis 14 points. Game Notes Dallas acquired Rondo and rookie forward Dwight Powell on Thursday in exchange for point guard Jameer Nelson, forwards Brandan Wright and Jae Crowder, a first-round draft pick in 2015 and a second-round pick in 2016. Powell did not play Saturday ... San Antonio has lost four in a row for the first time since a six-game skid March 23-April 1, 2011 ... The Spurs host the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday ... The Mavericks host the Atlanta Hawks, also Monday. ' ' '