Yankee Stadium to host two outdoor NHL games in 2014

Yankee Stadium will host two NHL games in 2014. (Photo by Mark Bonifacio/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)

Yankee Stadium will play host to two separate NHL games in 2014 as a part of the NHL's Outdoor Series, the NHL announced on Wednesday. The New York Rangers will play both the New Jersey Devils on January 26, 2014 and the New York Islanders on January 29, 2014.

This will be the first NHL game played outdoors in New York and the first of its kind at the new Yankee Stadium, which opened in 2009. Yankee Stadium can seat up to 50,287 fans during the baseball season.

This will be the second time the Rangers have competed in an outdoor event. They defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 in the 2012 Winter Classic at Citizens Bank Park.

The 2014 Winter Classic will be held at Michigan Stadium on the University of Michigan campus between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs. On Jan. 25, the Anaheim Ducks will play the Los Angeles Kings at Dodger Stadium. On March 1, the Chicago Blackhawks will host the Pittsburgh Penguins at Soldier Field.

"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-recognized stadiums in the world," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said.