Winter Classic ice trucks arrive in Miami, rink build begins 

MIAMI -- The high temperature was 77 degrees Fahrenheit in Miami on Wednesday. It would have been a beautiful afternoon to watch the Miami Marlins play a Major League Baseball game at loanDepot park.

Instead, workers installed signs outside and laid decking inside, and the NHL parked two Mobile Refrigeration Units in the loading dock to begin preparations for the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic.

The League will stage its first outdoor game in the Sunshine State when the Florida Panthers host the New York Rangers here Jan. 2 (8 p.m. ET; HBO Max, truTV, TNT, SNW, SNO, SNE, TVAS).

“I think it’s pretty bold move by the League,” NHL vice president of hockey operations Derek King said, standing next to NHL senior manager of facilities operations Andrew Higgins. “I think for us, speaking for ‘Higgy,’ it’s, ‘Why not? Why not Florida?’ It’s an amazing hockey market, so for us to bring the game here, I think it’s pretty exciting.”

The Panthers lobbied the NHL for an outdoor game for years, and now everything is coming together for their first outdoor appearance. They’re the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions and rank second in the NHL in average attendance at 19,489, behind the Montreal Canadiens (20,962). The League has learned from staging 43 outdoor games in temperatures ranging from minus-6 to 65 at face-off, leading to its most ambitious event yet.

“We’ve been in warmer markets before -- Raleigh, Dallas -- but really nothing as south or as warm as this,” Higgins said. “… Not that these ever become stale. We’re always dealing with something, whether it be weather or a venue issue. But this is just a new challenge for us.”

How is the NHL going to pull this off? The forecast over the next 10 days calls for temperatures as high as 84 and no lower than 62.

The stadium has a retractable roof, so the NHL can keep it closed during construction. Workers will lay decking to protect the synthetic turf around the rink. They will build a laser-leveled stage deck for the rink, lay 253 aluminum pans in three rows on top of it and lay piping from the pans to the Mobile Refrigeration Units.

For the first time, the League will use two Mobile Refrigeration Units instead of one to pump glycol through the pans and pull heat from the surface. Starting Dec. 23 or 24, the NHL will crank up the air conditioning inside the stadium, and workers will start spraying layers of mist on top of the pans to make a thick, dense ice sheet.

“I think things are going to really smooth,” King said. “We’ll be able to close in the building, keep everything conditioned, and that’s going to allow us to build it like we would in any other venue.”

The ice is about 1¼ to 1½ inches thick at Amerant Bank Arena, the Panthers’ usual home. Here, it will be 2 to 2½ inches thick, so the NHL can remove water rather than add it, if necessary.

King said the plan is to open the roof for the game Jan. 2. The game will be at night, when the sun is down and the air is cooler.

How good will the ice be?

“I think the quality is going to be great,” King said. “Obviously, it’s a different venue than it is at Amerant Bank or any other facility, so we’ll do our best to control what we can control. We’re not really going to worry too much about the outside conditions. We can make adjustments on the truck and really pay attention to that.

“Like we’ve said before, practice day for the players is practice day for us. We’ll be able to fine tune the truck, flow down to the rink, and really our goal is to provide the players the best possible sheet we can.”

The players can’t wait. Panthers general manager Bill Zito called the Winter Classic a “spectacular event” and a “bucket-list type of occasion.”

“I know it’s cliché,” he said, “but it’s like little kids at Christmas anticipating this wonderful celebration of our game.”

As Zito spoke, workers buzzed on the baseball field behind him. The sun lit up the Miami skyline through an opening in left center field. Glass panels can enclose that opening, but the plan is to open them on game day, too.

“It’s inspiring to think that here we are in South Florida trying to grow our sport, to get more people exposed to our game,” he said. “And to think that we’re able to do it here in this beautiful facility outdoors, it’s pretty exciting. …

“[We’re] privileged that we’re able to be part of a league that’s forward-thinking. Some really smart, talented people said, ‘Yeah, let’s try this. Let’s do this.’”