Stadium Series in Tampa latest example of Florida as hockey hotbed

The thought of playing an outdoor NHL game in Florida would have seemed unfathomable as recently as a few years ago.

But now, the idea of playing two outdoor games in the Sunshine State within a month of each other is viewed as the culmination and transformation of the sport in the state thanks in large part to the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers.

The first was the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic at loanDepot park in Miami, on Jan. 2, the Panthers hosting the New York Rangers.

Now, the Lightning will host the Boston Bruins in the 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday (6:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS).

"It's going to be a great experience obviously, and to have two [outdoor] games here in the state goes to show how far hockey has come," Lightning captain Victor Hedman said. "Two franchises that have had a lot of success as of late. I'm sure the fans and everyone in the hockey world is going to be excited."

As Hedman alluded to, this isn't something that happened overnight.

Hockey in Florida came into the mainstream in 1990, when NHL Hockey Hall of Famer Phil Esposito and his group won a bid for an expansion team, the Lightning, which would begin play in the NHL in the 1992-93 season. Miami was awarded an NHL franchise, the Panthers, for the 1993-94 season.

In 1995-96, three years into the Panthers' existence, and four into the Lightning's, each team qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time. The Lightning lost in six games in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, but the Panthers made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, where they were swept by the Colorado Avalanche.

"It was all a win across the board. Hats off to the NHL to do things that everyone said they couldn't do," said John Vanbiesbrouck, the goalie who helped lead the Panthers’ charge to the 1996 Cup Final. "It was an unlikely moment but now look at it. Here we are 30 years later and there is going to be an outdoor game. It worked. We made it work. If there is a will, there is a way. The NHL has a great will, and they have a fantastic way."

Since 2020, a Florida team has been in the Cup Final every season, the Lightning winning the Cup in 2020 and 2021 before losing the Avalanche in 2022, the Panthers falling in the 2023 Cup Final to the Vegas Golden Knights before winning it the past two seasons against the Edmonton Oilers.

"I think it's a bit of a tribute to the success the Florida teams have had, especially in the past decade," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said on the outdoor games. "This has become a hockey market and who would've thought that? And you get rewarded with one of the biggest events the NHL can present. I'm super excited, not only for myself, but for the city of Tampa and South Florida and the entire state. And both ownership groups that have done a whale of a job building teams that have been some pretty good success stories in this league."

No NHL team has had more success than the Lightning since the start of the 2013-14 season. In that span, the Lightning have 601 regular-season wins, 88 wins in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, two championships and four trips to the Cup Final.

Since the start of the 2020-21 season, the Panthers have the most playoff wins in the NHL (51), two Cup titles and three straight trips to the Final.

"When you say Florida, it's not a non-traditional hockey market anymore, it is a massive hockey market," Bryan Smolinski, NHL regional director of youth hockey development and industry growth said. "To see both teams with Tampa Bay and Florida, now they are winning Stanley Cups, and these markets get to revel in that.

"It's going to be huge. … It speaks volumes to teams that are successful, why not do it in Florida? Hockey in Florida has been synonymous now with the Stanley Cup and why not give them the benefit of having full Stadium Series and the Winter Classic? It's wonderful for the market as well as the two NHL teams."

In 2020-21, there were just over 450,000 registered hockey players in the United States. That number grew by almost 125,000 in 2024-25, with most of the increases coming from those 10 and under. There was a 35 percent increase in total youth players in the Miami area in that span, while the youth participation in the Tampa area nearly doubled.

"It's great to see from all aspects," Vanbiesbrouck said. "They are doing a great job with the youth in the area. Knowing what some of the alumni have been doing to give back down there."

Now, there are almost a dozen players to skate in at least one game this season who were born in Florida, including brothers Quinn Hughes (Minnesota Wild) and Jack Hughes (New Jersey Devils), defensemen Jakob Chychrun (Washington Capitals) and Shayne Gostisbehere (Carolina Hurricanes), forwards Brandon Duhaime (Capitals) and Gavin Brindley (Colorado Avalanche), and goalie Jacob Fowler (Montreal Canadiens).

In 1991-92, there were no such players.

"Hockey down there in general has just grown so much. It's cool to see," said Gostisbehere, who is from Pembroke Pines. "I think youth hockey was pretty good back in my day. I left when I was 16. I didn't leave too early. I played for the Junior Panthers for my whole travel life in Florida. I enjoyed it. It was pretty cool to play hockey as a kid from Florida -- and missing school a lot to go up North and travel. It was a pretty cool experience."

Of course, having players like future Hall of Famers Hedman, Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy on the Lightning has also helped getting more kids involved in the sport.

"I love this community. It's an honor to represent this community as the captain of this team," Hedman said. "You get to see the growth up close. All the things the organization has accomplished, and it has allowed us to go into different areas and get young kids excited about hockey and interested in playing hockey. Playing in a Stadium Series is going to be another big accomplishment for this organization and Tampa Bay.

"There's been a lot of success in this state. We won back-to-back (championships). The Panthers are back-to-back champions, and you see all the fans, a lot of new fans, getting into the sport. More kids in the state are learning hockey and want to play hockey. It's pretty exciting. That's a credit to the success of the teams and the relationships that have been built in the communities."

In the past seven years, 10 ball hockey rinks have been built in the greater Tampa area, including the Lightning and the NHL donating a rink as part of the legacy project during the 2018 All-Star Game, which was held in Tampa.

"Now there are rinks popping up all over the place [in Tampa Bay] and it's the same thing in South Florida as well," Cooper said. "I remember when Dallas … the team moved from Minnesota to there (in 1992) and the rinks started popping up and all of a sudden, youth hockey became huge and the fan base got bigger. There's no doubt I've seen that here in the past decade. You can get ice time anywhere and that's a good thing."