NHL invades Tampa ahead of Stadium Series between Lightning, Bruins 

TAMPA -- The temperature was 75 degrees Fahrenheit. The sun glistened on the water while NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman spoke to VIPs at a luncheon on a rooftop terrace at the Florida Aquarium on Tuesday.

Bettman explained how the Tampa Bay Lightning will host the Boston Bruins in the 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at Raymond James Stadium on Feb. 1 (6:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS), showing an animated video of the League constructing an air-conditioned tent on the field to make the ice and removing the tent before the game.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled to be bringing an outdoor game to Tampa,” Bettman said. “There are a number of people who think we’re a little crazy for trying to do it in this magnificent weather, but there are a whole host of factors that brought us to this point. …

“To pull this off, it’s going to be an engineering marvel.”

Obviously, the challenge is the heat, humidity and potential for rain. Not only must the ice be good for the three hours it takes to play the game, but it must hold up over the seven days or so it takes to make the sheet.

The NHL played its first outdoor game in Florida on Friday at loanDepot park, home of the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball. That stadium has a retractable roof, so the League kept the roof closed and cranked the air conditioning to make the ice, then opened the roof at night before the New York Rangers’ 5-1 win at the Florida Panthers before a sellout crowd of 36,153 in the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic.

The temperature was 63.1 degrees Fahrenheit at face-off, making it the second warmest NHL outdoor game in history. It was 65 for the Stadium Series at Coors Field in Denver on Feb. 27, 2016.

“Yes, we did an outdoor game, as you all know, in Miami on Friday night,” Bettman said. “That was easy, right?”

Easy compared to this, anyway.

Tampa Bay has no stadium with a retractable roof. The NHL spent years researching how to stage a game at Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League. It has a capacity of almost 70,000 for football.

The solution will be to build a steel-framed structure covered in engineered membrane material -- massive at 34 feet high, 124 feet wide and 248 feet long. The NHL will crank the air conditioning inside and make the ice, then remove the tent and decorate the field in about six hours before the game, which will be played after sundown.

“We’re going to pull it all together in a six-hour period,” Bettman said. “And so, if people thought the weather made us crazy for trying to do this, the engineering underpinning of everything we’re doing is going to make this even more special, even more unique.”

The NHL will hold a tie-down meeting at Raymond James Stadium on Wednesday, when multiple departments will tie down loose ends for the last time before the League takes over the venue. The Mobile Refrigeration Units, custom-made ice plants inside semi-trailers, will arrive Jan. 19.

“It’s unbelievable, but Mr. Bettman, how he explained the logistics of it, was fascinating,” said Phil Esposito, a Hockey Hall of Famer and founder of the Lightning. “… This is going to be something to watch and something to be part of. Really, really it is. It’s not like winning the Stanley Cup, but it’s big. It’s really big.”

The Stadium Series will feel especially big in Tampa, because the game will be played the day after the iconic annual Gasparilla Pirate Fest, which features an “invasion” by the crew of the mythical pirate Jose Gaspar.

Tuesday’s luncheon was called the “Invasion Luncheon.” When VIPs arrived, they were greeted on a blue carpet by members of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla, the “pirates” who organize the festival, and the Bolts Blue Crew, the Lightning’s brand ambassador team. The Stadium Series logos have pirate motifs.

“This is going to be great, especially with Gasparilla,” said former Lightning forward Pat Maroon, who has played in four NHL outdoor games. “There’s going to be a lot of partying, a lot of fun, and I think Tampa’s going to experience something they’ll never experience ever again.”

Lightning chairman Jeff Vinik remembered asking for an outdoor game when he bought the team in 2010. After hosting the NHL All-Star Game in 2018, Tampa Bay pushed for an outdoor game, posting a billboard for NHL officials to see on their way to the airport. It had a Stadium Series logo, a rendering of Raymond James Stadium with an ice rink, and a message: “NEXT TIME, LET’S GO OUTSIDE THE BOX!”

When they appeared in their only outdoor game, the Lightning brought about 25,000 fans with them for a 3-2 win at the Nashville Predators before 68,619 at Nissan Stadium in the Stadium Series on Feb. 26, 2022. Tampa Bay has sold out 437 straight home games, the longest active streak in the NHL.

“The technology was not there in 2010 to have an outdoor game,” Vinik said. “I don’t know if the technology was there in 2018. But it’s a tribute to all the people involved that we’re able to host this kind of event. We’re thrilled to do it. …

“We saw it in other cities, and we wanted to share that with our fans and with our community. And we want the country and the world to see this technological, as Gary said, marvel. It’s a special day.”

Lightning owner Doug Ostrover remembered talking to Vinik about two years ago.

“He was obviously really excited about the outdoor game, and I have to admit I was thinking, ‘You’re going to play an outdoor game in Tampa with no roof, no dome, over it? How are we going to control it?’” Ostrover said. “But now you saw the video, the technology, and we couldn’t be more excited. …

“I think people are going to be shocked. And Gary, I probably shouldn’t say this, but this is going to blow away what happened in Miami.”