Throw out the New York Rangers’ recent run of form because they are still being booked for some of the NHL’s largest regular-season events.
The league announced on Wednesday that the Blueshirts will face the defending Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers at the 2026 NHL Winter Classic on Jan. 2 from loanDepot Park in Miami, home of the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball.
It will be the first-ever outdoor NHL game to be played in Florida. On Feb. 1, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins will compete in a Stadium Series matchup at Raymond James Stadium, home of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“Stanley Cups, strings of sellouts, and the exponential growth of youth and high school hockey throughout the state have demonstrated that Florida is a hockey hotbed,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said. “Outdoor NHL games in the Sunshine State? Never let it be said that our League isn’t willing to accept a challenge.”
This will be the third Winter Classic that the Rangers will be participating in. They defeated the Philadelphia Flyers at Citizens Bank Park in 2012 before outlasting the Buffalo Sabres in overtime in 2018 from Citi Field. The Blueshirts also played and won two games at the 2014 Stadium Series against the New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders at Yankee Stadium. They defeated the Islanders again in February of 2024 at MetLife Stadium.
The Rangers and Bruins will become the fourth and fifth teams in NHL history to play at least six outdoor games, joining the Chicago Blackhawks (seven), Flyers, and Pittsburgh Penguins.
