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." Wholesale Nike Air Max 270 . And follow TSN.ca right through Deadline Day for all the updates. Getting Creative The Pittsburgh Penguins will try their best to acquire Ryan Kesler from the Vancouver Canucks before the Trade Deadline. Clearance Nike Air Max 270 .C. -- After a listless first half, the Washington Wizards used a big third quarter run to beat the Charlotte Bobcats Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17-0 run in the third quarter to take control of what had been a close game and beat the Bobcats 97-83 on Tuesday night. https://www.cheapnikeairmax270china.us/. - Jerome Verrier scored the winner 8:24 into overtime and Louis-Phillip Guindon stopped 46 shots as the Drummondville Voltigeurs edged the host Val-dOr Foreurs 4-3 on Friday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoff action. Nike Air Max 270 Outlet . A fully booked flight forced me to leave two hours later. After a nice meal in which I studied the stats of the Argo win, I prepared to leave the restaurant. As I was gathering my things to leave many large individuals began to walk up and wait for tables. Nike Air Max 270 Sale . Kripps, of Summerland, B.C., and Edmontons Barnett used a terrific second run to move up two spots, putting the Canadian duo in medal contention with the final two runs set for Monday (11:15 a.m. ET, streaming live at cbc.FREDERICTON -- A complaint of discrimination over a decision by the University of New Brunswick to eliminate varsity womens hockey will proceed after a tribunal on Tuesday rejected the schools attempt to have the case thrown out. Sylvia Bryson has been fighting to have the womens hockey team reinstated as a varsity squad since filing her complaint in 2009, a year after the team was stripped of its funding and downgraded to a competitive sports club. Bryson, who played for the team, alleges that the decision to relegate the womens team constitutes discrimination on the basis of sex. The university argued in March that Bryson didnt have a personal stake because she is not a full-time student and working in Newfoundland, and therefore wouldnt qualify to play, so her complaint is moot. But in its decision, the provinces Labour and Employment Board sided with Matthew Letson, the lawyer for Bryson and the Human Rights Commission, who argued that Bryson still has a year of eligibility to play and is affected by the fact there is no varsity team to try out for. "Bryson, just as any other female athlete with academic standing, could and can still try out to play CIS hockey at UNB -- if a womens varsity hockey team had not been eliminated by UNB," said the decision by board chaairman Robert Breen.dddddddddddd Letson said he was pleased with the decision. "There was never any guarantee that she would qualify for the team and so really its the right to try out which is being interfered with by the fact there is no team to try out for," he said. Bryson welcomed the decision and said she is looking forward to having the hearings resume. The hearings are expected to resume this fall, but no date has been set. "I learned a long time ago that these types of procedures and decisions dont happen quickly, particularly now, given just the number of people involved and schedules," Bryson said from St. Johns, N.L. During her testimony before the board, Bryson said the womens hockey team never received the level of resources enjoyed by the mens hockey team, yet the university compared their outcomes such as win-loss records when the decision was made to cut funding from the womens squad. She didnt play at the unfunded, recreational level because she said it would be insulting. Bryson also wants changes to the gender equality policy of the universitys athletics department, saying it needs to include allocation of resources for both mens and womens teams. The university declined comment and its lawyer did not return a message. ' ' '