NHL

RANGER GAME IN BRONX ON THIN ICE

The prospect of holding the NHL Winter Classic at Yankee Stadium on Jan. 1, 2009 is in the bottom of the ninth inning, with the Yankees attempting to convince the city that a pair of major concerns can be overcome so the Rangers can play an outdoor game in The Bronx before the World’s Most Famous Stadium closes its doors.

“We’re negotiating with the city on two issues that need to be resolved within the next few days in order for us to be able to go forward with the NHL,” Yankees’ COO Lonn Trost told The Post last night. “We want to have the game here and the NHL wants to have the game here, so now it’s a matter of us settling these concerns.”

The NHL needs to make commitment to the Winter Classic’s host city within the next week or two. If the Rangers are awarded the game, it is believed they would meet the Bruins on New Year’s Day in what would be the first of a home-and-home, with the return at Fenway on a year to be named later.

The Islanders and Devils have lobbied the league to be named as the Rangers’ opponent, but NBC, which will televise the match, has no interest in a game between teams representing the same market.

If the Yankees’ issues with the city cannot be resolved, Wrigley Field in Chicago is believed the second choice to host the 2009 outdoor game.

“The first issue concerns Lot 14, the lot directly across the street from the Stadium that’s now the players’ lot,” Trost said. “We have an agreement to turn that lot over to the city on Dec. 1 so they can begin construction on that site for what will be a two-level underground parking facility that’s going to be covered by a ballfield for use by neighborhood.”

The city’s second concern is one that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman referred to in a press conference last week as, “winterization.”

“There’s some concern that there would be water damage to the Stadium if the pipes burst, with use in the winter,” Trost said. “But we don’t believe that’s a legitimate danger.”

larry.brooks@nypost.com