Construction of Winter Classic rink at loanDepot park is underway. How will it work?
The ice trucks have arrived. The rink is being constructed.
Visible, tangible signs that hockey will be played at loanDepot park, home of the Miami Marlins, are slowly coming to life.
It has been almost a year since the NHL announced the Florida Panthers will host the 2026 Winter Classic, facing off against the New York Rangers on Jan. 2.
But the waiting and anticipation is now turning into a realization that, yes, an outdoor hockey game (or as close to one as humanly possible) is going to take place in South Florida.
“It’s exciting,” Florida Panthers president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Zito said Wednesday. “It’s inspiring to think that here we are in South Florida, trying to grow our sport, to get more people exposed to our game, and to think that we’re able to do it here at this beautiful facility.”
Now comes the big question: How is it possible to make a rink at a baseball stadium in Miami?
Here’s the rundown, courtesy of NHL senior director of facility and hockey operations Derek King and NHL senior manager of facilities operations Andrew Higgins:
- The ArmorDeck flooring system is being built on the baseball field over the next few days. That’s the base for the rink. Piping is getting put in place during this time as well. The goal is to have all of this finished by Monday or Tuesday.
- The league will use two portable refrigeration units to create the ice. It’s the first time they will use multiple trucks to create the ice after experimenting with the process during the 2025 Stadium Series at Ohio State’s football stadium. The plan is to start creating the ice around Christmas.
- On top of the rink’s deck will be 253 aluminum pans running across three rows that will serve as the base layer for the ice.
- The sheets of ice will be slightly thicker than they are at normal NHL arenas. King said NHL ice sheets are normally about 1-and-a-half inches thick. For the Winter Classic, they will make the sheets between 2 and 2-and-a-half inches.
- And yes, if weather permits, the plan is for the loanDepot roof to be open for both the teams’ practice sessions on Jan. 1 and for the game itself on Jan. 2, which has an 8 p.m. scheduled puck drop. Once they begin creating the ice next week, the plan is to keep the roof closed and the air conditioning on full blast until that practice session the day before the game. For what it’s worth, the NHL has fielded outdoor games in temperatures as warm as 65 degrees, so nothing is out of the question.
“We’ve done a lot of the outdoor games now,” King said, “and really being able to bring it to South Florida, I think that’s a pretty bold move by the league. For us, it’s, ‘Why not? Why not Florida?’ It’s an amazing hockey market, so for us to bring the game here, I think it’s pretty exciting.”
Added Higgins: “I think for us and our crew, it’s just a new challenge. We’ve been in warmer markets before — Raleigh and Dallas — but really nothing as south or as warm as this. So it’s a chance for us to bring both of our mobile refrigeration units, get those hooked together, get those running together. So just a challenge for us and our team. Not that these ever become stale; we’re always dealing with something, whether it be weather or a venue issue, but this is just a new challenge for us.”
Zito referred to the Winter Classic as a “bucket list” type of event. And it’s a reward for a Panthers team that has elevated itself into one of the league’s top franchises.
The Panthers have won each of the past two Stanley Cups and also reached the Cup Final in 2023. Their in-state counterparts, the Tampa Bay Lightning, are hosting a Stadium Series game at Raymond James Stadium, home of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, one month later as the league honors the growth and success of hockey in the Sunshine State. Between the Lightning and Panthers, teams from the state of Florida have been in six consecutive Cup Finals, winning four of them.
“A privilege that we’re able to be part of a league that is forward-thinking,” Zito said. “We have some really smart talented people who say, ‘Yeah, let’s try it. Let’s do it.’ ... It’s just great for the game and great for our sport.”
This story was originally published December 17, 2025 at 4:27 PM.
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