Winter Classic to be 'unique visual experience' in Miami

MIAMI -- The fantasy started to become reality Tuesday morning.

Workers unloaded live palm trees from a truck on the field at loanDepot park, where the Florida Panthers will host the New York Rangers in the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic on Friday (8 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SNW, SNO, SNE, TVAS).

Replica flamingos, pelicans and iguanas waited to be placed in position, along with umbrellas, beach towels and lounge chairs.

"That's always the most exciting part," said Greg Schettino, senior designer on the NHL creative services team. "You go such a long time working on it, and you're behind a computer screen. Once you start to see everything come to life, I think the eyes start getting a little wider, going, 'Wow, this is really a cool thing.'"

Each NHL outdoor game is a unique spectacle tailored to the local market. The goal is to create a sense of place from the big picture to the tiniest details, so the national TV audience knows immediately where the event is happening and the fans in attendance are entertained by everything on and off the ice.

It takes creativity and coordination from multiple NHL departments and third-party contractors. After months of research, brainstorming and planning, it all must come together in a matter of days.

Wait till you see some of the final touches at loanDepot park, normally the home of the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball.

"You can have an idea, but to actually make it reality, you need all of these people involved," said Greg Mueller, vice president of NHL creative services. "The integration of those ideas is really what makes it work. We're lucky we work with, I would say, the best team in sports. It's an incredible group of people."

This will be the first NHL outdoor game in the Sunshine State, and the theme will be "Snowy Winter Comes to Sunny Florida."

Schettino designed the main logo, which is simple and says it all. It has the trademark "Winter" script, but "Classic" is in pink neon, inspired by the Art Deco hotels on South Beach. A palm tree is dusted in snow.

"It creates a conversation," Schettino said. "When people see the logo, they go, 'Well, how are you going to do that in Miami?'"

That question will be answered by the ice crew, but the Miami-ice contrast will be central to the scene and show. It'll be sunny Florida on the left, the Panthers' side, and snowy winter on the right, the Rangers' side.

On the left, each face-off dot will feature a sunshine design. The field will look like it's covered in sand, and there will be a street hockey rink and a lifeguard tower. Actors will have fun in the sun.

On the right, each face-off dot will feature a snowflake design. The field will look like it's covered in snow, and there will be a synthetic ice rink and an all-terrain vehicle with a plow. Actors will frolic in a winter wonderland.

There will be a massive NHL logo that looks like a sand sculpture, "FLA" and "NYR" signs outlined in neon, and more.

"It's to create an entire experience," Mueller said. "From our standpoint, we have to do that visual storytelling. It's an elevated theme that becomes reality. The juxtaposition of the sand and the snow and then outdoor hockey coming to South Florida, it really creates a unique visual experience."

You've got to give the NHL props for the props.

The League hired Betsy Cox of Renegade Design as the art director for this project.

The lifeguard tower was custom-made to look like the famous one on 17th Street in Miami Beach, and the palm trees were rented from a local company called Temporary Tropics, along with other live plants you'd find in Florida. Each item will be placed so it doesn't ruin the sightlines for the people in the seats.

Cox said she found surfboards from places in Florida and some of the other props online. She bought the pelicans, iguanas, umbrellas and lounge chairs on Amazon.

"Pelicans are surprisingly hard to find, ones that look really real," Cox said. "We tried to be as realistic as we could."

You might find an iguana in a tree, at least in the first period.

"I would like to start it in a tree and have it fall progressively throughout the game," Cox said, "for those in Florida who understand that."

You never know what you might see during a stoppage in the hockey game. There could be a Spikeball game, a belly-flop competition or a snowball fight. There might be people sunbathing or someone in a shark costume.

"I keep joking I'm going to put the camera guys in abominable snowmen costumes," Cox said with a smile. "We'll see."