NHL Outdoor Game In Miami: We Believed In It for Years

On Jan. 1, 2010, I wrote a piece for my old Miami Herald blog On Frozen Pond bringing up the idea that the NHL could someday find a home for outdoor hockey at the new ballpark being built on the site of the old Orange Bowl in Miami.

It was scoffed at then, and in future years as I continued to push the idea.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman shot down the idea each and every time I brought it up in various conversations with him.

George Richards, FHN Publisher (back in the days when he owned a comb, the Marlins played in a football stadium, and the Panthers never made the playoffs)

Until he didn’t.

On Wednesday, the NHL made it official: The Florida Panthers will play the New York Rangers in the 2026 Winter Classic at LoanDepot Park — the home of the Miami Marlins — on Jan. 2.

In a fun twist, the Tampa Bay Lightning will also get an outdoor game against the Boston Bruins on Feb. 1, 2026, at Raymond James Stadium.

In 2010, more than two years before the Marlins tossed the first pitch at their new ballpark in Little Havana, I pointed out that the Winter Classic could find itself getting a little stale.

Since the league could not really use NFL stadiums for the New Year’s game due to scheduling concerns, it was running out of venues. How about at the new ballpark in Miami?

Of course, the NHL added the Stadium Series later in the season and blew that idea up by going back to NFL venues like the Meadowlands.

Regardless, as time has gone on, the outdoor hockey game now needs some juice.

Coming to Florida adds some spice to an idea that has gotten a little stale at least on the national stage.

These outdoor games are huge for the markets involved. Even though the latest Winter Classic had its worst ratings yet, the fine folks in Chicago and St. Louis couldn’t get enough.

From my Herald piece in 2010: There are only a few places you can hold the Winter Classic. Baseball parks up north (Yankee/Shea Stadium, Busch Stadium, the new Twins Park, SkyDome, etc.) and college football stadiums not being used. …

They are going to be looking for unique places to hold the game. Don’t you think an outdoor hockey game in MIAMI would bring a ton of national and international attention to the game? For sure it would.

And with the roof, it could work.

You close the roof at the stadium and turn on the AC. You put down the rink two weeks before the game, get a good ice sheet going. Then, you open up the roof for a few hours. If it’s too hot the day before, you keep it closed for practice, opening it up only for the game. Even if it was a day like today, a good sheet of ice could keep if only for a few hours of hockey.

Sure, it would take away from the Winter Wonderland that the Winter Classic has become — and doesn’t Fenway look awesome today? — but that would be cool.

Hockey with a Little Havana flair.

Let’s do this.

Guess what the plan is for making ice at Marlins Park?

They’re going to come in two weeks ahead of time, close the roof, crank up the air conditioning, make the ice surface, then hope for no rain so they can open up the roof for an outdoor game feel.

Not a bad idea, eh?

And with the game being played at night — a Friday night, to be specific — they don’t have to worry about glare of the sun on the ice, nor the heat of the sun affecting the playing surface.

When asked by Florida Hockey Now before Game 1 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final about conversations between the Panthers and Marlins, Bettman said he had not visited the ballpark yet, but added he certainly liked the idea that it “has a roof and is air conditioned.’’

Bettman did tour the facility during the Final and came away impressed enough to bring the Winter Classic to the tropics.

“I’m not going to break any news today,” Bettman continued before Game 1, “but we are mindful of the fact that at some point it would be good for the Panthers to be in an outdoor game. We continue to explore options.’’

The bottom line is, this thing may not work perfectly.

It may be 82 and rainy on game night and the roof will have to be closed for the game.

After all, many Orange Bowl Classics have been played on that site in similar conditions over the years.

But they will have tried something new and daring — only, thanks to the roof and the air conditioning, not all that daring.

And, in the process, the TV ratings will likely blow this year’s out of the water just on the curiosity factor of people turning in to see if it the pulled it off.

They’re playing hockey outside in Miami? Put that on!

In 2011, with the ballpark nearing its completion, I spoke to some Panthers about the possibility of playing ball on a hockey rink. Or something like that.

They liked it a lot.

“It would be unique, that’s for sure,” said Kris Versteeg, who was the first hockey player to ever score (a goal) in a ballpark when he gave Chicago a 1-0 lead on Detroit at Wrigley Field on Jan. 1, 2009.

“Everyone loves coming down here and it would be neat to have a tropical outdoor game. People would travel from all over for that. The game and the weather would be great for the fans.

“It was awesome playing at Wrigley, but I don’t want to play in that cold again. But it was a memory I’ll always have.”

• FHN: The Florida Panthers Played Hockey, Outdoors, Before

In the early 2010s, the Panthers were not exactly a local — much less national — draw.

The team struggled to fill its large arena in Sunrise and, in 2011, had not made the playoffs in a then-NHL record 11 seasons.

This game isn’t happening in Miami had things not changed.

LoanDepot Park opened in 2012 on the site of the Miami Orange Bowl which hosted the Miami Dolphins, Hurricanes, the Orange Bowl Classic and five Super Bowls. It was torn down in 2008 after the University of Miami left for Dolphins Stadium in Miami Gardens. // FHN File Photo

The Panthers are one of the most successful organizations in the game and, based on the current state of things, the best sports story going in South Florida.

The NHL is bringing outdoor hockey to Miami and Tampa not only because the optics of this thing could be off-the-charts cool, but because both teams are popular and have helped spur grand growth of the game in Florida.

Glad to see the NHL join the bandwagon.

“I wish I would have thought of this myself, but it’s a real possibility,” former Panthers president Michael Yormark said in 2011.

“At the right time, we would want to discuss this with the league. We would like to put this on their radar. Florida is such a great destination, who wouldn’t want to be here for a game like this?

“Our town would embrace this. It would be a huge event for us, South Florida and the NHL.”

Versteeg summed things up pretty well.

“People would remember this one,” Versteeg said. “No doubt about it.”

We thought so, too.

Play ball!

ON DECK: GAME No. 43

BOSTON BRUINS at FLORIDA PANTHERS

• When: Saturday, 1 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• National TV: ABC
• Streaming: ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• This Season (Panthers Lead 2-0) — At Florida: Panthers 6, Bruins 4 (Oct. 8); Saturday. At Boston: Panthers 4, Bruins 3 (Oct. 14); March 11.
• Last Regular Season: Bruins Won 4-0
• Last Postseason: Panthers Won ECS 4-2
• All-time Regular Season Series: Boston leads 64-39-7, 6 ties
• All-time Postseason Series: Florida leads 3-0 (1996 1st, 2023 1st, 2024 2nd)
• Up Next for the Panthers: Monday at Philadelphia Flyers, 7 p.m.