Cheerleading on Ice for Nyack Native

Islander fans from Nyack now have an entirely different reason to cheer for Long Island's favorite NHL franchise this year—Ice Girl Stephanie.

The Nyack native was recently selected to help represent the team for a third straight season on the ice, as one of their Islanders Ice Girls.

“Being an ambassador for the Islanders is such a fun experience. I love being on the ice, skating for people and the fans really seem to love it,” she said.

And according to Tim Beach, VP of Operations and Events for the New York Islanders, while the Ice Girls are a relatively new phenomenon to professional hockey, they have indeed become a big part of the Islander family.

"In 2001 the league mandated that all NHL facilities had to provide staff, which could ice skate to shovel the ice clean during breaks and we [the Islanders] thought, why not bring in figure skaters to add a little entertainment value to this job,” Beach said.

An addition to the team that Beach stressed quickly became a fan favorite, so much so in fact that the idea quickly spread throughout the league.

“The subsequent season we saw many teams adopt ideas similar to ours. But we were the only ones to think of it in 2001,” he said.

Today, the New York Islanders Ice Girls consist of 10 hockey vixens that help steam up the arena, skating during commercial breaks and in between periods, cleaning the ice, shooting tee-shirts into the audience and roaming the stands to help lead some 15,000 screaming hockey fans in bouts of spontaneous cheering.

Although Beach was quick to point out that the Ice Girls are more than just cheerleaders.

“We [the Islanders] go to almost 300 events every year—from town festivals to schools to summer camps to charity golf outings to fundraisers—and these ladies represent us in a respectable, professional manner all of the time,” Beach said.

But for Stephanie the greatest part about being selected as an Ice Girl is getting to participate in this season's opener.

“My favorite moment all season long is always when we bring out the American flag for the first game back, and there are all these big ear to ear smiles around the arena. It feels good seeing people so happy,” she said.

Though Stephanie did revealed that meeting the fans was a close second.

"Especially the little ones—it's always fun meeting them,” she said.

Perhaps for Stephanie’s biggest fan however—her father Ira—the nicest thing about having a daughter who's an ice girl, is getting a chance to watch her skate during the game.

“I’ve always loved watching hockey, but seeing my daughter out on the ice makes it even better,” he said, adding, “I’m just very proud of Stephanie and the wonderful job she does."

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To see more of the 2011-2012 Ice Girls click here or go to www.ticketmaster.com to book tickets today.