MIAMI– NHL officials sat in a control room at LoanDepot Park Tuesday night, counting down to what could have been a dramatic moment.
As a test, they were opening the sliding glass panels in left field and the retractable roof above as they will at some point before the Florida Panthers host the New York Rangers on Friday in the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic (8 p.m. ET; HBO Max, truTV, TNT, SNW, SNO, SNE, TVAS).
“We said, ‘Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one…'” NHL executive vice president of events Dean Matsuzaki said. “‘Open!'”
The result?
A palm tree and a few pink flamingos fell among the decorations on the field, but that’s all.
“It was like, ‘OK, that was a little disappointing but absolutely necessary,’” Matsuzaki said. “Believe me, it was disappointing, it was what we were looking for.”
The temperature was 58 degrees Fahrenheit at ice level when the roof opened and never got above 59. That was about the same as a typical indoor NHL game.
Conditions are expected to be similar Friday night, meaning the temperature at faceoff may not set the record for an outdoor NHL game. It was 65 degrees Fahrenheit at Coors Field in Denver on February 27, 2016 and 62 degrees at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on January 25, 2014 for the Stadium Series.
“If you look at the forecast going forward, the nights are cool,” said NHL vice-president of hockey operations Derek King. “By the time we get to faceoff, the conditions could be great. It’s exciting.”
The NHL was confident it could hold this event despite the challenges, having hosted 43 previous outdoor games in all kinds of conditions and learning from those experiences. Otherwise, the League would not have scheduled the game in Miami.
He kept the roof closed and set the air conditioning at 60 to 64 degrees during the day while workers built the ice, planning to open the roof for the game.
He still wanted to take a test.
