The Islanders will have a "very noticeable" absence when the club begins play at Barlcays Center this season, as the club's "longstanding tradition" of Ice Girls will be discontinued, according to Allan Muir of SI.com. The Isles instead will have a "co-ed ice crew." The Islanders in '01 became the "first NHL club to create a cheerleader-style Ice Girls squad that, along with performing various promotional duties, was charged with shoveling loose snow off the ice at stoppages." The popularity of the Ice Girls "inspired copycat troupes around the league." However, the girls also drew "protests from some who felt their sometimes provocative attire was both unnecessary and demeaning to female fans." Barclays Center Exec VP & Chief Communications Officer Barry Baum said that the Islanders' decision "was not motivated by those voices of dissent." Muir noted the Flyers prior to last season "eliminated their Ice Girls squad," but they "reversed their position after a male ice crew was lustily booed at their preseason opener" (SI.com, 8/31). USA TODAY's Hemal Jhaveri wrote it is a "good move by the Islanders to embrace a new attitude as they enter a new phase in their history." Getting rid of an "outdated tradition is certainly a step in the right direction" (USATODAY.com, 8/31).
THE ISLAND: On Long Island, Paul LaRocco reports Islanders Owner Charles Wang has "won a bid" for a bankrupt ice-skating center in Nassau County's Eisenhower Park and will "turn it into the team's official practice space, offices and pro shop." Wang bid $8M for "assets of the privately operated Twin Rinks Ice Center." He said that he "originally wanted to strike a deal" with Twin Rinks' owners "before their bankruptcy" (NEWSDAY, 9/1).
