Winter Classic ‘awesome event’ for Panthers despite loss to Rangers

MIAMI -- As the roof opened slowly, Luis Fonsi sang “Despacito.” The Florida Panthers walked out, fire shot up and snow fell.

In Miami.

The Panthers will want to forget the game itself, a 5-1 loss to the New York Rangers on Friday. Still, they’ll remember the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic for the fire-and-ice, hot-and-cold, sand-and-snow spectacle.

“This was an incredible event,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “I can’t believe how many people worked on this, and they got it all right. This is the losing coach, right? So, incredible memories.”

This was the Panthers’ first outdoor game, the first NHL outdoor game in the Sunshine State, the southernmost NHL regular-season game and a game that defied the laws of nature.

The two-time defending Stanley Cup champions drew a sellout crowd of 36,153 to loanDepot park, home of the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball.

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

“Awesome event,” said Aaron Ekblad, who has spent his entire NHL career in Florida and played the most games among Panthers defensemen (772). “Super well done. … I’m really happy I was able to experience something like this. I would have loved to get a win, but at the end of the day, a true first-class experience.”

It was in the mid-60s with low humidity in the late afternoon, comfortable to hang out in a hockey jersey. Fans of both teams lined up to enter the fan festival, see the Stanley Cup and greet the players.

Chanting, cheering, holding up phones to take photos, hundreds lined barricades on 6th Street. The Rangers stepped off a bus in white beachy outfits and marched into the stadium with game faces. The Panthers pulled up in Ferraris. It was straight out of the song “Miami” by Will Smith.

“Hundred-thousand-dollar cars, e’ybody got ’em …”

The Panthers wore “Miami Vice” outfits -- sunglasses, white suits, pastel T-shirts -- for this episode of Miami ice. Some had retro brick cell phones. Some had cigars. Forward Matthew Tkachuk, out with an injury, lit a cigar and puffed away.

They had style and swagger, and they smiled and soaked up the moment, taking time to slap fives with fans. Forward Brad Marchand even stopped to sign jerseys and pose for photos.

When the teams warmed up in their throwback uniforms, the Panthers wore bucket hats like they were going to the beach, the Rangers toques, fitting the theme. The left side of the field was decorated like “sunny Florida,” the right side as “snowy winter.” The props included real palm trees and fake flamingos.

LoanDepot park has sliding glass panels in left field and a retractable roof overhead. The NHL kept the stadium closed to protect the ice until the big moment.

Fonsi took the stage, singing in Spanish here in Little Havana, and the teams came out for the game. The panels opened, showing off the lights of the Miami skyline, and the roof pulled back from left field toward first base, revealing a black sky and bright white moon.

The NHL used snow machines to simulate flurries for the Panthers entrance as pyrotechnics flared. For a few moments, flakes swirled in the air.

The players stood for the anthem with a huge U.S. flag on the ice behind them. Fireworks exploded in the sky.

Former Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo, a Hockey Hall of Famer, dropped the puck for the ceremonial face-off between Ekblad and Rangers forward Vincent Trocheck, who played in Florida from 2013-20. By the time the puck dropped for the game, the roof was open fully.

Role Model performed during the first intermission as Tkachuk and captain Aleksander Barkov, also out with an injury, danced with the Stanley Cup. During stoppages, the entertainment included a belly-flop contest in a little inflatable pool.

“The ice was fine,” Maurice said. “The spectacle was incredible, the roof opening, the U.S. flag on the ice, the national anthem, all of it. It was just brilliant.”

The temptation is to call this the most surreal experience the NHL has created. You can argue it was. But remember, the NHL has staged 44 outdoor games since 2003-04. Each has been unique, and some have been in this category.

The NHL played the Stadium Series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on a 62-degree night Jan. 24, 2014, with beach volleyball, KISS and the USC Trojan Marching Band. It played the Winter Classic at Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas on Jan. 1, 2020, with a western theme that included pig races. It played on a golf course at Lake Tahoe on Feb. 20 and 21, 2021, with no fans in attendance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Really, this was just the latest in the NHL’s efforts to think outside the box, try something different, have fun and grow the game.

Next, the NHL will build an air-conditioned tent to make the ice at Raymond James Stadium and remove it before the Tampa Bay Lightning host the Boston Bruins in the 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union Stadium Series on Feb. 1 (6:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS).

“They’re so good at it now,” Maurice said, “you’ve got to figure out a way almost to get every team to play one a year, because it would be the highlight of the year for the team.”