The NHL will build a tent in the field of the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida to control the climate and build the ice cream for the Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series 2026. The Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning could train in this tent on January 31.
Before the first NHL free-air game of the teams on February 1, it will be dismantled in Tampa-a unique spectacle given the challenge of playing ice hockey in an open-air football stadium in Florida, and this new solution. Ticket sales begin on Thursday at 10 a.m. ET (4 p.m. CEST) via Ticketmaster.
“Lightning has been striving for an open air for years,” said Steve Mayer, the NHL President of Content and Events. “In the past, we have never been confident that we could protect the most important thing, namely the ice rink. Now we are confident that we will make it and we will organize one of our most unforgettable games.”
The NHL has played 43 outdoor games under all possible conditions and in all possible places since 2003/04. The temperature at the opening bully was at least 10 degrees Celsius seven times. It was twice at the Series stage over 15 degrees.
It was 16 degrees when the Anaheim and Los Angeles Kings played on January 25, 2014 in the Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, and 18 degrees when the Colorado Avalanche and the Detroit Red Wings were on the ice on the Coors Field in Denver on February 27, 2016.
However, playing in Florida did never seem practical due to the sun, rain and especially the humidity. The NHL needs about seven days to build ice cream for a game outdoors, with water being sprayed in the form of layers of fog to create a thick, dense layer. The crews often work throughout the night and cover the ice with isolated blankets during the day. The ice is maintained by mobile cooling units that pump glycol through aluminum pans underneath.
Kris King, Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations of the NHL, said that the league had experimented with the construction of open-air ice railways in Tampa and found that the humidity would cause frost, which would make it difficult for the pucks to glide, and to run for the players.
“We found that we have to control the surroundings and the best way to do this is a closed area,” said King.
The NHL will play its first outdoor game in Florida on January 2 when the Florida Panthers and the New York Rangers play the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic in the Loandepot Park in Miami.
This stadium, home of the Miami Marlins from the Major League baseball, has a lockable roof that can be opened and closed in about 15 minutes. The NHL can keep the roof closed and turn on the air conditioning while the ice is built, and then open the roof shortly before training and the game, which is held at the cheapest conditions at night. The average maximum temperature in Miami on January 2 is 24 degrees, the average lowest temperature 15 degrees.
The situation is different for the Bruins and Lightning in the Series stage. The Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaners from the National Football League, has no retractable roof, so the NHL will build a temporary roof to cover the ice surface during the ice structure.
