Photo courtesy of ClutchPoints
By Kendall Bulkiewicz
The Sunshine State will have center stage as two outdoor events will be held in Florida for the first time in hockey history.
It starts on Feb. 1 when the Tampa Bay Lightning hosts the Boston Bruins at Raymond James Stadium as a part of the NHL’s 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series.
It will be a showdown aligned with Tampa’s iconic Gasparilla weekend, which is estimated to draw in 300,000 visitors who annually “invade” the city.
For the Lightning, it’s their second outdoors since the 3-2 thrilling win against the Nashville Predators at the 2022 Stadium Series at Nissan Stadium in Tennessee.
In addition, the Florida Panthers will make its outdoor game debut, hosting the New York Rangers on Jan. 2 at loanDepot Park in Miami for the Discover Card 2026 NHL Winter Classic.
Though the Panthers’ venue does have a retractable roof, the Lightning game truly represents an authentic outdoor hockey game, as there is no roof over the facility.
These two long-awaited games represent the 44th and 45th regular-season outdoor games in NHL history. The first recorded outdoor game played by an NHL team was on February 2, 1954, when the Detroit Red Wings played the Marquette Pirates at Marquette Branch Prison in Michigan. The game was an exhibition and the score was stopped after the Red Wings led 18–0 in the first quarter. The Marquette Pirates were an athletic club made up of prisoners at the prison. Allegedly, the game was organized by Red Wings manager Jack Adams to make amends with two convicted mafia members at the prison.
Together, the Lightning and Panthers have represented the Eastern Conference in the last five Stanley Cup Finals, building strong fan bases and establishing Florida as a hockey powerhouse.
The undefeated-in-five-outdoor-games Rangers take their streak to Miami, while the Bruins add credibility to Tampa’s event with four wins in five outdoor appearances.
As the NHL continues to grow its love affair with the spectacle of hockey, the 2026 outdoor games will surely celebrate the state’s growing hockey legacy. Additional details for the event, including start time and ticketing information, will be announced at a later date.
