The Tampa Bay Lightning will face the Boston Bruins on Feb. 1 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
It’s the second outdoor game in Florida in NHL history, following the Winter Classic in Miami earlier this month, but the first played in Florida in an outdoor stadium without a retractable roof.
For the first game, the league took special steps to ensure the integrity of the ice in Miami’s warm weather: thicker ice, an extra refrigeration unit and closing the retractable roof of LoanDepot Park to keep the rink air-conditioned.
The roof was open during the game, which the New York Rangers won 5-1 over the host Florida Panthers.
ALSO READ: How do you keep an outdoor ice hockey rink from melting in Miami?
But there is a major detail that changes their approach ahead of the construction of the Tampa rink: Raymond James Stadium is a fully outdoor stadium, with no retractable roof to protect the ice.
“When we're told we're going to a certain market, we always think about it, and then we give our answer,” NHL executive vice president of hockey operations Kris King said in a press release. “This was our quickest answer. ‘Are you crazy?’ But after all the time and work we've put in, I'm confident we're going to have a heck of a game.”
League officials decided to build a temporary air-conditioned tent over the rink, which will then be taken off prior to the puck dropping.
The 34-foot-high, 125-foot-wide, 240-foot-long building will take between two and three days to construct and approximately six hours to dismantle, presenting yet another unique challenge that the Florida weather poses for outdoor hockey.
“The biggest difference here is just the size and scope of this project,” NHL executive vice president of events Dean Matsuzaki said. “Our rink build is big enough, but we're adding this whole other component on top. We've thought of all the different scenarios. We hope we've thought of everything.”
It will be built in sections on rails to help ease the dismantling process.
The NHL says the ice trucks that will lay down the rink will get into town on Monday. It should take about a week to make the ice, which will be about 2 to 2½ inches thick. That’s about an inch thicker than in an indoor arena.
ALSO READ: Outdoor hockey is coming to Tampa and Miami in 2026
NHL senior director of hockey operations Derek King said they’ll try to keep the temperature in the tent at 60 degrees with a dew point of 38.
When the weather is right, they’ll take the tent down and protect the ice with insulated blankets.
The league will then monitor the weather on Feb. 1 to make sure the ice is safe enough to play. The game is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m.
As was the case in Miami, two refrigeration units will be used and the game will be played at night when temperatures in the area drop.
There have been multiple dry runs to test the timing; league officials are confident it will take place without any issues.
“I know we're going to be able to build a rink under this tent and have a rink that's safe and similar to what our players play on in other outdoor games,” Kris King said. “But once you start dismantling this big tent, then we're going to find out what we have, so we're going to take every precaution, every step we need to take, to make sure that ice is ready once we drop that puck.”
