The idea of National Hockey League hosting an outdoor game in Florida is something that has picked up momentum in recent years.
It certainly helps that the league’s two Florida-based teams, the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning, are currently two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.
Between the two of them, they have been the Eastern Conference representative in each of the past five Stanley Cup Finals, bringing the historic trophy back to Florida in three of those five trips.
Not too shabby.
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Considering two of the best teams happen to play in nontraditional markets, not to mention that they are heated rivals who have battled in three of the past four postseasons, it seems logical that the NHL would want to showcase them on one of their annual outdoor game celebrations.
Outdoor hockey in Florida?
The idea was the first on the list of The Hockey News’ recent story on Future NHL Outdoor Games We’d Love to See.
There have been outdoor games in Los Angeles, Dallas, Nashville, Santa Clara…and yeah, we get it, Florida is Florida, but this is also 2024 and technology is out there that can keep an ice sheet cold enough for an outdoor game in South Florida.
It also helps that loanDepot park, home to MLB’s Miami Marlins, has a retractable roof.
Keep that bad boy closed as long as you need to in order to create the ice, maintain it, get the venue ready for the game and then crack it open for the big event.
As THN’s story pointed out, that’s exactly what they did at the 2024 Winter Classic, but it was still just 44 degrees that day in Seattle.
When the NHL hosted an outdoor game in Raleigh in 2023, temperatures were in the 60s and 70s in the days leading up to the game, but the ice was fine and reportedly quick when the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals took the ice at Carter-Finley Stadium.
The temperature did cool to 44 degrees for the 8 p.m. puck drop.
The average temperature in Miami during the month of January over the past 50 years has been 67.6, according to NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).
Between the retractable roof and modern technology being what it is, why shouldn’t we seriously ask about an outdoor game in South Florida?
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was asked about that exact topic when he spoke prior to the start of the Stanley Cup Final, which was hosted by the Panthers.
While he admitted that he had not been to the ballpark, Bettman said he liked that it had a roof and was air conditioned.
“I’m not going to break any news today, but we are mindful of the fact that, at some point, it would be good for the Panthers to be in an outdoor game,” Bettman said back in June. “So we continue to explore options…we can only speculate what the future might hold in that regard.”
For now we’ll just have to stay in ‘wait and see’ mode, but it’s a fun idea to throw around.
As long as Florida and Tampa Bay remain solid, playoff caliber clubs that can’t stand each other, there is no reason to think the league won’t be trying to make it work.
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