Miami Hosts NHL’s Outdoor ‘Winter Classic’ on Jan. 2

The Florida Panthers play the New York Rangers at LoanDepot Park on Jan. 2.

Workers prepare the ice for the upcoming NHL Winter Classic hockey game between the Florida Panthers and New York Rangers, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, at loanDepot Park in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladyk).

An outdoor ice hockey game is traditionally associated with a snowy setting where frigid temperatures allow the ice to form. But on Jan. 2, the National Hockey League will play its annual outdoor game, the “Winter Classic,” in Miami.

The defending Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers, will host the New York Rangers at LoanDepot Park, which is normally the home of the Miami Marlins baseball team.

Work on the rink continues, and both teams were scheduled to hold their practice there on Jan. 1.

It has not snowed in Miami since 1977, and while the entire Sunshine State was hit with a cold snap in the days leading up to the game, temperatures remain in the 60s.

However, the 37,000-seat open-air ballpark will feel about 20 degrees cooler than normal, and NHL officials were working to even make it snow for an event intended to collide Florida’s endless summer with hockey’s winter.

“We’ve designed it so that winter meets summer — or let’s go the opposite way, here in Florida, summer meets winter,” Steve Mayer, the NHL’s president for events and content, said on Dec. 29. “Fire, ice, hot, cold, all of the thematics that you would think. So, half the field is going to be a Miami beach ... and the other side is as if a huge snowstorm has hit Miami. That’s the dynamic that we’re going to have fun with throughout the game.”

This game is not the first time the NHL has had to manifest ice in warmer conditions. The league noted temperatures were 62 degrees for a game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Jan. 25, 2014, and 65 degrees for a game at Denver’s Coors Field on Feb. 27, 2016.

Operational tests were conducted for two hours on Dec. 30, and league officials were happy with the results. Temperatures in the stadium never rose above 60 degrees, and ice plants brought in on semi-trailers only had to run at 50 percent.

“If you look at the forecast coming up, the nights are cool,” NHL vice president of hockey operations Derek King said in a press release. “By the time we get to puck drop, it could be great conditions. It’s exciting.”

Some of the Florida Panthers also expressed their excitement about having the opportunity to play in one of the few outdoor games held every year.

“It truly is a wonderful thing to experience,” Panthers Coach Paul Maurice said in an NHL press release. “When we get to that event, we want to make sure we take it all in and enjoy it. This is one of the great events for a hockey team.”

The 2026 Winter Classic will be the first of two outdoor games held in Florida this season. The league will head northwest to Tampa, where the Tampa Bay Lightning will host the Boston Bruins at Raymond James Stadium on Feb. 1.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.