MIAMI (AP) 鈥� Hockey. Outdoors. In Florida.
Next season, the NHL is making it happen 鈥� twice.
The NHL announced Wednesday that the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers will play host to the New York Rangers at loanDepot Park in Miami 鈥� home of baseball鈥檚 Marlins 鈥� on Jan. 2, 2026, in the Winter Classic, with the Tampa Bay Lightning playing host to the Boston Bruins at Raymond James Stadium on Feb. 1, 2026, in a Stadium Series game.
鈥淪tanley Cups, strings of sellouts and the exponential growth of youth and high school hockey throughout the state have demonstrated that Florida is a hockey hotbed,鈥� NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. 鈥淥utdoor NHL games in the Sunshine State? Never let it be said that our league isn鈥檛 willing to accept a challenge.鈥�
It鈥檚 a long time coming, but the Panthers and Lightning have represented the Eastern Conference in each of the last five Stanley Cup Finals and they've built heavily engaged fan bases. And both franchises have asked the NHL to bring an outdoor game 鈥� or two, in this case 鈥� to the Sunshine State for many years.
The league listened.
鈥淭o be able to celebrate these two franchises against great Original Six teams, I think, is phenomenal,鈥� Panthers President Matthew Caldwell said. 鈥淎nd I think our time has come. We deserve that outdoor game and we鈥檙e fired up to have it right here locally.鈥�
The Marlins鈥� ballpark, located about a 45-minute drive south of the Panthers' home arena in Sunrise, can hold about 37,000 fans. Raymond James Stadium 鈥� home of the NFL鈥檚 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 鈥� can hold about 65,000 for most events, and capacity can be increased a bit if necessary.
鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 be more excited for this landmark event to finally arrive for Bolts Nation and the Tampa Bay community,鈥� Lightning CEO Steve Griggs said. 鈥淭his moment has been a long time coming, and we鈥檙e thrilled to see this dream become a reality.鈥�
These will not be ordinary outdoor games.
The high in Miami on Jan. 2 this year was 78. The high in Tampa last year on Feb. 1 was 66. Those temperatures aren't conducive to finding ice outside. And the high game-time temperature for any of the previous outdoor games in NHL history, the league said, was 65 for a game in Denver in 2016.
鈥淲e understand it鈥檚 risky," said Steve Mayer, the NHL's president of content and events. "I think we like it. And it鈥檚 not a challenge. It鈥檚 actually an opportunity for us.鈥�
The Marlins' loanDepot Park has a retractable roof and that will play a big role in getting that stadium ready for hockey. The air conditioning will be cranked up 鈥� way up 鈥� and the Panthers-Rangers game will be played at night with the roof open. For the Lightning-Bruins game inside the open-air stadium in Tampa, the NHL will build a temporary roof over the ice surface and remove it just a few hours before game time.
鈥淲e want to bring a little bit of a winter wonderland to Florida,鈥� Mayer said.
The games in 2026 will be the 44th and 45th regular-season outdoor contests in NHL history. The Rangers are 5-0-0 in their previous outdoor games, Boston has won four of its five outdoor games and the Lightning prevailed in their only outdoor contest. The Panthers have never played such a game.
鈥淲e get to expand our great sport," Panthers general manager and hockey operations president Bill Zito said. "We have a chance to have 100,000 people watching hockey live, outside, in Florida. That's unthinkable. And the exciting part and the fun part is it鈥檚 growing. It鈥檚 getting bigger. More and more people are becoming hockey fans in Florida."
___
AP NHL:
Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
