Winter jackets have been donned around the Tampa Bay area to start this week as Tampa Bay Lightning fans weathered temperatures just north of 30 degrees.
Maybe it’s a signal from Mother Nature, because construction for outdoor hockey in Tampa began on Tuesday.
Crews from the NHL on Tuesday afternoon exerted their way around Raymond James Stadium—home of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers—as they began to set up what will soon house the ice sheet for the 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union Stadium Series on Feb. 1.
“This is pretty remarkable,” Derek King, the NHL’s vice president of facility and hockey operations said from the stadium on Tuesday. “(It’s been) a couple years of planning. I think this is the most planning we've put into an outdoor game. And there's just a lot of stuff going on on game day. Obviously the rink build is key. But if you look at everything going on behind the scenes with all of our groups…definitely a lot of things that we need to pull off on game day. But it's definitely exciting to be here, and we're looking forward to it.”
Crews on Tuesday put down a stage deck, which was set to be followed by a layer of plywood on Wednesday afternoon as well as 243 ice pans and pipes to make up the ice surface. The dashers are set to go up on Thursday, which is when the ice-making process begins.
The NHL will build about an inch of ice, paint it white and then construct another ¼ inch before painting the lines and logos. The final thickness will be between 2 ½ to 3” depending on the forecast.
“In a typical NHL arena, they carry between an inch and a half, so we're close to double,” Andrew Higgins, NHL senior manager of facility and hockey operations said of the ice on Tuesday. “And the main reason for that is the goalpost inserts that go into the concrete in the typical arena. We don't have concrete here, so our inserts sit in the ice. So we need to carry enough to get above those to keep the nets on during the game. But otherwise, the process is exactly the same. We spray it (water) just in fine mist just like they do in every other arena in the league. We just happen to build more of it.”
The game against the Boston Bruins is the first outdoor NHL game coming to Tampa and will be the second in the Sunshine State this season after the Florida Panthers hosted the 2026 NHL Winter Classic.
Only this time, the NHL experience of an outdoor game will be just that in Florida—fully outdoors.
“It’s pretty damn cool, to be honest,” Lightning captain Victor Hedman said.
“Beautiful weather today, hopefully this temperature will be the same on Feb. 1. Other than that, just looking around here, usually we’re coming here to watch football, and now we're getting the chance to play outside here. And from what I’ve heard, there’s going to be a lot of people at the game. So, it's going to be a dream come true.”
Raymond James Stadium doesn’t have a roof, meaning the Stadium Series will be played under the guise of the sun’s rays.
The ice sheet will take six days to build, according to the NHL. To help offset any weather concerns while building that surface, the league will utilize a titanic 34-foot tall, 240-foot long, climate-controlled tent that also began being framed together on the field on Tuesday afternoon.
The tent will protect the ice from the Florida sun as well as humidity and rain until shortly before the puck drops on Feb. 1.
Even if its warmer than expected, the NHL has brought an extra refrigeration truck that can chip in to keep the ice in good condition for the game. Current forecasts predict temperatures in the mid to low 60s for the evening puck drop, which Higgins said would be “perfect”.
The NHL isn’t that worried about the weather, saying the only real concern would be an extended, warm rain.
Game day is quickly approaching after years of planning, and all sides are excited.
“I think from the league standpoint, from us it's a pretty bold move to come to southern Florida,” King said of bringing outdoor hockey to Tampa. "If you look at what Tampa, the Lightning have done the last couple of years with the hockey market here, the game's grown. It’s a really great organization to work with, and even the folks here at Raymond James Stadium, they've been great since we've been planning this for the last couple of years. They've been great to work with.”
Hedman echoed that on Tuesday, too, saying the organization has earned this opportunity.
“A lot of credit goes out to the Lightning organization for supporting this and wanting to have this, and obviously to the NHL for rewarding us to host a game here,” he said. “Us as a team and an organization has been to three straight finals and won a couple of Cups and always been in the playoff hunt. I think the Lightning have been a team that is looked upon as one of the best in the NHL, so it’s fitting for us to get an outdoor game, that’s for sure.”
