{"id":460401,"date":"2025-01-09T11:51:19","date_gmt":"2025-01-09T16:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=460401"},"modified":"2025-01-09T11:51:19","modified_gmt":"2025-01-09T16:51:19","slug":"outdoor-hockey-heads-south-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/01\/09\/outdoor-hockey-heads-south-in-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Outdoor Hockey Heads South in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The “Sunshine State” has hosted the Eastern Conference Champion each of the last five seasons. In 2026, it will host a pair of outdoor games.<\/span><\/p>\n

2026 Winter Classic<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n

You won\u2019t want to miss it!<\/p>\n

\u2014 Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) January 8, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The game will occur at loanDepot Park, home of Major League Baseball’s <\/span>Miami Marlins<\/span><\/a>. The <\/span>Florida Panthers<\/span><\/a> will host the <\/span>New York Rangers<\/span><\/a> in the 17th Winter Classic. loanDepot Park will be the tenth MLB park to host the event.<\/span><\/p>\n

It will be the Panthers first <\/span>appearance outdoors<\/span>.<\/span> For the Rangers, this will be their third Winter Classic after appearing in 2012 and 2018. Furthermore, the team participated in Stadium Series games in 2014 and 2024 at Yankee Stadium and MetLife Stadium, respectively.<\/span><\/p>\n

2026 Stadium Series<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n

Outdoor hockey is coming to Tampa \ud83e\udd1d<\/p>\n

We\u2019re hosting the 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union\u2122 NHL #StadiumSeries<\/a> at @RJStadium<\/a>!<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcdd: https:\/\/t.co\/gCWR8bjJjL<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/H1OXZyAko4<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) January 8, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The <\/span>Tampa Bay Lightning<\/span><\/a> will host the <\/span>Boston Bruins<\/span><\/a> at Raymond-James Stadium, home of the NFL’s <\/span>Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/span><\/a>. This will be the second outdoor game for the Lightning, as well as their first time hosting. For the Bruins, this will be their first appearance in the Stadium Series. However, this will be their sixth outdoor game, after appearing in the 2010, 2016, 2019, and 2023 Winter Classic. Boston became the first city to host multiple Winter Classic games in 2016. In addition, Boston’s Fenway Park became the first venue to host multiple Winter Classic games in <\/span>2023<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Florida’s Success Earned Outdoor Games<\/span><\/h3>\n

Either the<\/span> Lightning or the Panthers have represented the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Final since 2020. The two teams have won a combined three Stanley Cups in those appearances. It is fitting that the NHL <\/span>is choosing<\/span> to let both teams receive the <\/span>honour<\/span> of hosting outdoor games.<\/span><\/p>\n

While it would have made sense to have the Panthers and Lightning face each other in an outdoor game, the way the NHL has chosen makes more sense. This gives both teams the <\/span>honour<\/span> of hosting an outdoor game as an award for their recent success. Furthermore, the inclusion of the Rangers and the Bruins maintains the tradition of an “Original Six” team in an outdoor game. In the process, the NHL is <\/span>honouring<\/span> its history while celebrating the success of the present. That is what these outdoor games have always been about. It is fitting that the Panthers and Lightning receive this <\/span>honour<\/span> of hosting outdoor games in 2026.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The “Sunshine State” has hosted the Eastern Conference Champion each of the last five seasons. In 2026, it will host a pair of outdoor games. 2026 Winter Classic You won\u2019t want to miss it! \u2014 Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) January 8, 2025 The game will occur at loanDepot Park, home of Major League Baseball’s Miami Marlins. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3464,"featured_media":460465,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[34,5,6,4547,14,4548,9],"tags":[3044,5531,869],"class_list":["post-460401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-bruins","category-panthers","category-hockey","category-rangers","category-nhl","category-lightning","tag-nhl-stadium-series","tag-outdoor-hockey","tag-winter-classic"],"modified_by":"Tommy Bennett","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3464"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460401"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":460467,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460401\/revisions\/460467"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}