Winter Classic in Miami has NHL sweating details to keep things cool

MIAMI -- This is where it starts. Without water, you won’t have ice. Without ice, you won’t have the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic between the Florida Panthers and New York Rangers at loanDepot park on Jan. 2.

Derek King, NHL senior director of hockey operations, knelt on the synthetic turf behind the pitcher’s mound at the home of the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball on Wednesday. In his left hand, he held a tablet full of plans, photos and notes. In his right, he held a phone.

Javier Carrillo, senior director of grounds at the stadium, pulled up a rectangular patch of turf and revealed one of the water hookups on the field the NHL will use to build the ice for the first NHL outdoor game in Florida. King confirmed it was one inch and took a photo for his records.

“I just want to ride on the Zamboni,” Carrillo said with a laugh. “That’s it.”

It will take a lot to make it happen. This will be the 44th outdoor game the NHL has had since 2003, transforming baseball stadiums, football stadiums and even a golf course for hockey. Each event takes months of planning, a construction project and an army to pull off.

The NHL always makes multiple site visits. It made one to loanDepot park Wednesday, taking advantage of an opportunity with many of the same people working on the Winter Classic already in South Florida for the Stanley Cup Final between the Panthers and Edmonton Oilers.

They included representatives from TNT and several NHL departments, splitting up to scout the areas for which they were responsible. Everyone sweated every detail. It was in the mid-80s and humid.

“We are definitely hoping it’s going to be cooler on Jan. 2,” NHL executive vice president of events Dean Matsuzaki said with a laugh. “It was warm walking around today.”

Don’t worry. The conditions should be more favorable in the winter and at night, and the stadium has a three-panel retractable roof that can open and close in about 15 minutes. The plan is to close the roof and crank the air conditioning for the four days it will take to build the rink and the seven days it will take to build the ice, then to open the roof for the practices and game.

For the first time, the NHL will not operate just one Mobile Refrigeration Unit, a custom-built ice plant on a semi-trailer. It will operate two together for redundancy. King used a laser measuring tool to figure out exactly how the trailers might fit in the loading dock behind right field. He wants them to stick out enough so they can vent warm, humid air without hitting an overhang.

King located water hookups needed for the trailers, and he made sure to check how the pipes will run from the trailers to the field. The NHL will cut a hole in the wall to create a direct route, then repair it afterward.

“When you’re punching a hole in a wall, you make sure that it’s the right thing in the right place,” NHL executive vice president of hockey operations Kris King said with a laugh. “We’ve got to make sure that we’re doing what we need but also that we limit it as much as possible, because they want their ballpark back the way we found it.”

A key question for the stadium workers: How low can the AC go?

“Air conditioning to them and to us is two different things,” Derek King said. “We know the max load that our trucks can run under. We want to make sure that during the ice build we’re not going to run into any issues. We control what we can control. If we can cool the building off, get down into the low 60s, maybe the high 50s, that’s good for us.

“We’re not worried about sun. We’re not worried about rain. And then obviously we have some time with practice day. It’s not just practice for the teams, but it’s practice for us. We can open the roof, see what the loads are, and then fine tune how those trucks are going to operate for us.”

A group toured the home and visitor clubhouses, taking notes and photos. The NHL needs to give the teams more than a place to dress. It needs to give them a coaches office, a weight room, a training room -- all the amenities they’re used to in an arena.

“A baseball clubhouse is built different than an NHL locker room, so we have to utilize the space the best way we can and steal some space in some instances to give them everything they need,” Kris King said. “It’s better to see it in person than to see it in pictures.”

Others looked at everything from press box assignments to TV camera positions. The main baseball camera is too low for hockey because of the boards and glass. To find a higher position, you have to find a way to run cables, and you have to do it well in advance.

A few days ago, a group toured the Art Deco architecture in South Beach for inspiration, but the field design is still a work in progress.

“We have talked ideas at this point, but we haven’t really gone full into what the design’s going to be,” Matsuzaki said. “First, we have to figure out the large operational components -- where our ice plant’s going to be, where the ice pipes have to go, where the road will have to be for the ice resurfacers. Those things we need. You can’t have the game without those. And then the field design has to work around those a little bit.”

Less than seven months to go.

As Matsuzaki finished speaking to the group at one point Wednesday, he looked over to NHL president of content and events Steve Mayer.

“Anything you want to add?” Matsuzaki asked.

Mayer smiled.

“It’s going to be amazing,” he said.