For more than a week, there has been a 200 feet by 85 feet sheet of ice sitting at LoanDepot Park in Miami, and the National Hockey League is counting on it not melting.
It's the same ice where the Florida Panthers and New York Rangers will meet on Friday in the 2026 NHL Winter Classic, the league's famed annual outdoor games.
The game is more associated with snowy locations in historic hockey strongholds like Toronto and Chicago than our beach-friendly winter, but with Broward's Florida Panthers as the current two-time champions, South Florida became impossible to ignore.
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The league is turning to two men, Derek King and Andrew Higgins of the league's facility and hockey operations team, to defeat the oxymoron that is outdoor hockey in South Florida.
“ I think it's a pretty bold move by the league. Why not Florida? Florida is an amazing hockey market. So for us to bring the game here, I think it's pretty exciting,” said King.
“ For us and our crew, it's just a new challenge. We've been in warmer markets before, but really nothing as south or as warm as this.” said Higgins.
The ice is just part of the massive production planned for Friday night's game. LoanDepot Park, home of the Miami Marlins, has been completely transformed. The field has been split into two halves, one sunny and the other snowy to highlight the clash between South Florida’s warm weather and the sport's cold weather origins.
“ Half the field is gonna be Miami Beach, lifeguard stands, umbrellas, cabanas and swimming pools, and the other side is as if a huge snowstorm has hit Miami…We're gonna have cast members on the field. Half of them will be in parkas, the other will be in bikinis and speedos,” said Steve Mayer, president of NHL events and content.
Mayer hinted at a few other surprises for the fans on game day, especially those on the icy side.
“You may get snowed on… we like to make it an interactive experience from the time you walk in the building to the time you leave,” he said.
Getting the ice ready
But none of the fanfare can happen without the ice in peak condition.
Two weeks before the puck drops, the rink build begins. King and Higgins’s team marks out the space, stretching end to end across the infield, and lays down a laser-leveled stage deck. Then the crew brings in 253 aluminum pans to cover the surface. Those pans are connected to two truck trailers in centerfield that pump glycol, which removes heat from water, through the pans. About a week before the game, water is misted on top of the pans, allowing it to freeze in layers.
The process is helped by LoanDepot Park’s retractable roof, which allows the team building the rink more control over the conditions before the game. But the plan is to play with the roof and the sliding floor-to-ceiling windows in left field open, which puts the ice at the mercy of the elements.
“ Once you open the roof, all bets are off. I'm looking at the weather just like everybody else,” said Mayer.
There is a difference between ice and professional grade ice — any bumps, bobbles, or soft spots on Friday could ruin the whole affair — but the team can monitor the ice and adjust the coolant coming from the truck trailers on the fly. They’ve also created a sheet that’s between two and two and a half inches — an inch thicker than the ice at Amerant Bank Arena, where the Panthers play, to give themselves more of a buffer.
And to make things even better, there’s a cold front due this week. Temperatures at puck drop could be in the mid to low 60s.
Up next for the NHL events team might be an even greater challenge. Next month, they’ll head to Tampa for the NHL Stadium Series where the Tampa Bay Lighting will play the Boston Bruins at Raymond James Stadium, where there is no roof.
