Globies on Ice: Not so nice

AP Photo/Craig Ruttle
Kris "Hi-Lite" Bruton of the Harlem Globetrotters shoots and scores wearing a goalie mask as his team took on the Washington Generals during a basketball game on the outdoor ice rink at Lasker Rink in New York's Central Park today.

The Associated Press

The Harlem Globetrotters have a new way to beat the Washington Generals -- on ice.

The famed basketball barnstormers played on a hockey rink for the first time in their 84-year history today, putting on a show in New York's Central Park ahead of a tour of the area.

Both teams wore ice cleats on their shoes but the Globetrotters' mascot appeared unable to find ones that fit his cartoonish sneakers, and wound up adding some unintentional slapstick to the routine.

The Globetrotters' Kris "Hi-Lite" Bruton put on an old-school goalie mask and used a hockey stick to bat down a shot. The Generals grimly stuck to their usual brand of basketball -- and lost 32-15.

The Globetrotters (official site linked here) have their annual appearance in Southern California this weekend: Saturday at 1 and 7 p.m. at Honda Center in Anaheim; Sunday at 1 and 6 p.m. at Staples Center and Monday at 1 p.m. in Ontario. The team is honoring former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda before their 1 p.m. game Sunday at Staples Center. Lasorda was born in 1927, the same year the Harlem Globetrotters played their first-ever road game in Hinckley, Ill., on Jan. 7, 1927.