Background
The league announced the game on January 8, 2025, alongside the 2026 NHL Stadium Series. The games will be the first outdoor NHL games played in the state of Florida, as the Stadium Series will be held at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. [3] The game was the Florida Panthers' first game in Miami since 1998, the southernmost game in NHL history, [4] and the Panthers' first-ever outdoor game, which will leave the Utah Mammoth as the only team to have not played in an outdoor game. [5] The Rangers were chosen as the opponent in hopes of drawing a large traveling fanbase to the event (as there are many New Yorkers who live in South Florida), which continues to be a solid in-person draw for the league, [6] while the defending champion Panthers' hosting of the event ensures a quality opponent, addressing complaints about the 2025 event in which the then-last place Chicago Blackhawks hosted. [7]
This is the second consecutive year the league has attempted to schedule the Winter Classic on a day that is not its traditional New Year's Day time slot. As part of a gentlemen's agreement between TNT and ESPN, who share American rights to the NHL and the College Football Playoff, TNT moved the Winter Classic out of the windows used by the Playoff quarterfinals, which now occupy all of New Year's Day afternoon and evening as well as prime time New Year's Eve. The previous season's attempt to move the Winter Classic to December 31 before the first quarterfinal game was unsuccessful due to a number of factors, among them viewers being unable to watch the game due to being at work on a non-holiday, viewers being unaware the game had been moved off New Year's Day, and competition from non-Playoff bowl games; [7] for 2026, the league will attempt to schedule it on the day after New Year's Day, which poses many of the same issues. [8]
Due to Miami's warm climate, the NHL modified its construction of the rink for the game so that the ice sheets are 2½ inches thick, 1 inch higher than a standard NHL rink. They also used two mobile refrigeration units instead of one. The retractable roof of LoanDepot Park remained closed for the duration of the construction so as to maintain optimal ice conditions. The NHL plans to have the roof open at puck drop, though there is also a contingency plan to close the roof in the event outdoor temperatures rise. [9] [10] Early reports had stated that the league would use a special concrete-and-steel, climate-controlled dome placed over the playing surface during construction, then removed at game time; [6] said device eventually was never used, as the league eventually deemed that keeping the retractable roof closed and using air conditioning provided a cool enough environment to construct the rink. [10] The opening puck drop was scheduled for 8:25 pm, allowing the environment to cool. League officials set a target of 65 °F (18 °C) for opening the roof; [9] the temperature was 61 °F (16 °C) at puck drop. [11]
This page is based on this
Wikipedia article Text is available under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
