NHL Winter Classic Visits Miami Atop Wave of Florida Hockey Interest
By: Caroline Walsh
MIAMI — It was a humid 63.1 degrees Fahrenheit in Miami at puck drop. Yet, an ice rink lay atop the synthetic turf of LoanDepot Park, sun roof open above, and concocted snow trickled down on fans.
Yes, you read that right.
The NHL brought outdoor hockey to Florida with the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic, marking the league’s first outdoor game in Florida. The 44th iteration of the event featured the Florida Panthers and the New York Rangers. The Rangers pulled away, defeating the Panthers 5-1.
To play into the spectacle of a South Florida outdoor game, the surrounding rink was divided into two themes.
The left side showcased a true South Florida winter with pink flamingos and beach chairs scattered throughout the artificial sand. While the right side paid homage to the cold climate of the Winter Classic’s roots, bringing winter to Florida, with snow-covered palm trees and beach chairs.
The scene achieved just what Steve Mayer, President of NHL content and events, set out to do.
“Winter meets summer,” Mayer said. “Fire meets ice. Hot meets cold.”
Once LoanDepot Park’s roof was retracted, Miami officially had outdoor hockey. For many Panther fans like 36-year-old Marie Smith, the event served as an opportunity to experience outdoor hockey for the first time. Living in South Florida her entire life, Smith has never seen ice in an outdoor setting before, let alone snow on the ground. So for the lifelong Panthers’ fan, the Miami Winter Classic was a can’t-miss event.
For Megan Butchko, 28, and her husband, LesPaul Butchko, 27, the event gave them a reason to vacation from Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
Megan attended the 2017 NHL Stadium Series at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh that was 36 degrees, and said that the opportunity to experience a different atmosphere drew her to the Miami game: “We left the snow to come here.”
The Panthers’ return to Miami was a full-circle moment for 61-year-old medical records coder Cheryl Jarrell, who in the 90s would go on dates with her now-husband, 61-year-old teacher Gurden Jarrell, to watch the Panthers play at the Miami Arena.
The couple turned attending Panthers games into a family affair with their son, Benjamin Jarrell, owning season tickets since 2012. Benjamin, 28, grew up playing hockey at Kendall Ice Arena, and felt that bringing the event to Miami made a statement about hockey in Florida.
“We’re excited that we can host such a major event and show the whole country what South Florida hockey is about,” Benjamin said.
From the moment fans parked, they were immersed in hockey festivities. The 2026 Enterprise NHL PreGame Outdoor Fan Festival, an event exclusive to Winter Classic ticket-holders, ran from 2 until the 8 p.m puck drop just outside of the ballpark.
The tropical vibe of the fan festival was something that made this year’s event standout to New York Rangers fans Dante Pennacchia Jr. and Dante Pennacchia III, who also attended the 2018 NHL Winter Classic at CitiField together. The two flew in from Kennedy airport on Thursday night and were quick to dive into typical South Florida tourist activities before heading to the ballpark.
“We’ve already done the Little Havana this afternoon,” Pennacchia Jr. said, “And we’re gonna go to the South Beach tomorrow.”
The 2026 Winter Classic was not only a special experience for fans but for players, as well. Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who grew up playing hockey in Novokuznetsk, Russia, recalled playing in games that were minus 30 degrees Celsius.
Though this year’s Winter Classic was certainly nowhere near as cold as the games Bobrovsky played in when he was younger, he said skating in an outdoor setting brought him back to his childhood days.
Panthers’ players also had the opportunity to share an outdoor hockey experience with their families on Thursday, after their practice. With the team based in South Florida, getting to skate outdoors is something that doesn’t happen often, and Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling did not take it for granted. Forsling said the time spent with family is really what the whole event is about.
“I think Bo (his son, 1,) is probably going to lie that he remembers all this, but it’ll be amazing to see all the pictures and everything,” Forsling said.
The decision to bring the Winter Classic to Florida comes at a time where interest in the sport is at an all-time high, with a Florida team winning four of the past six Stanley Cup Finals — the Panthers taking the last two. Bill Zito, Panthers president of hockey operations and general manager, described the move as something they had been lobbying for.
This was the Panthers’ first appearance in an outdoor game. The franchise joined a list of 30 other NHL teams, leaving only the Utah Mammoth, which joined the league during the 2024-25 season, to not yet play in an outdoor game.
27-year-old Gainesville residents, Nicholas DuBois and Madeline Norris, viewed the decision to bring the Winter Classic to Miami as another indicator of how successful the Panthers’ franchise has become in the past few years.
“The Panthers have kind of established themselves as a really good team, there’s kind of no denying it,” DuBois said. “It’s awesome that the NHL is kind of seeing that, and it’s like, ‘All right, let’s try to make a Winter Classic happen here.’”
Norris, who has never seen real snow, described seeing snow fall at the ballpark as magical. But for her, the most memorable part of the experience was seeing a full arena to watch hockey with 36,153 fans in attendance.
“Being able to fill the stadium of like 37,000 people,” Norris said. “My whole life, we were never able to fill our like 19,000 people in the Panthers stadium. It was always empty growing up so now being able to fill it’s amazing.”
The success of the Panthers has not only peaked fan interest in the sport but also increased hockey participation. From 2020-21 to 2024-25, Florida experienced a 46.84% increase in overall hockey participation, with a 67.96% increase among players 10 and younger, according to USA Hockey data.
South Florida native Christopher Choquette, who was at Friday’s game, has seen this increase firsthand with his son Parker, who plays little league hockey. Choquette thinks the sheer increase in hockey rinks speaks to how popular the sport has become. “It seems like there’s a new one going up every couple years,” Choquette said.
An event like the Winter Classic in Miami is something Zito believes will even further expand hockey interest in South Florida.
“I suspect that we’re going to look back and think that this was a pretty significant day in the growth and evolution of the spread of hockey in South Florida,” Zito said.
While the oxymoron of an outdoor ice rink in South Florida may have made the concept of hosting a Winter Classic there seem impossible, NHL senior director of facility and hockey operations Derek King explained that LoanDepot Park’s retractable roof allowed his and NHL senior manager of facilities operations Andrew Higgins’ team to set up the rink the same as any other venue.
“I think it’s a pretty bold move by the league,” King said. “‘Why not? Why not Florida?’ It’s an amazing hockey market.”
Miami will not be the only city in Florida to put on an outdoor game this year. Tampa is set to host the 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at Raymond James Stadium on Feb. 1.
“The two outdoor games that are going to be played between here and Tampa are just going to add more excitement and more love for the game,” Panthers forward Brad Marchand said.
Category: Florida Panthers, Hockey, NHL
