If you’d asked me when I moved to Florida 20 years ago whether I’d like to go to an NHL Winter Classic, my first question would be, “What is a Winter Classic?”

The NHL’s new year outdoor game tradition started in 2009 in snowy Buffalo and has typically been played in football and baseball stadiums in northern climates ever since. The idea that one could be played in South Florida was unlikely for decades, both due to weather and fan disinterest. In the “bad old days” for the Florida Panthers, they’d struggle to attract 10,000 fans much less the tens of thousands more needed to fill a stadium.

Fast-forward to the modern day and the Panthers have won back-to-back Stanley Cups and routinely draw 19,000 plus to their arena. The NHL commissioner announced in early 2025 that the next iteration of the game would be played in Miami and would see the Panthers take on my beloved New York Rangers.

So on January 2nd, 2026 I set upon the 75-minute journey from home to loanDepot Park in Miami. The stadium was built in the early 2010s for the Marlins baseball team on the site of the old Orange Bowl football stadium in Little Havana. I’d long heard the stories of parking challenges since the stadium is in a residential neighborhood, so I made sure to buy a parking pass in advance and leave early. After 20 years in South Florida, I’ve learned you don’t leave anything run by the city of Miami to chance…

Even 4 hours before face-off, the garages were almost full. I walked over to the fan fest set up outside the stadium to find TNT’s Darren Pang interviewing Wayne Gretzky and Nick Fotiu.

The setup was fun, with games, food and marketing installations. The band Role Model performed.

Moving into the stadium, it was time to see what hockey looks like in a baseball park. I’d been to several Marlins games over the years, so I knew how to get around and where to find the best food (Cuban sandwich at the Press Box concession stand in left field). I walked the field level concourse to get some pictures.

After securing my pan Cubano, I made my way to my seat just before introductions. When I was looking at tickets earlier in the week, I wanted to make sure that my seat wasn’t too physically far from the ice and that it was elevated a bit. As seen in the view from centerfield picture above, there are some bad seats.

I settled on 4th row of the upper deck all the way down the right-field line. A good view – I’ve had worse seats at NHL arenas.

The Rangers haven’t had a great season, but tonight they took it to the Panthers, going up 3-0 before finishing with a 5-1 win. New York was well-supported, with each Ranger goal eliciting a roar and some well-known Rangers chants. With around 10 minutes left, I left my seat and watched from the left-field concourse, a great view with easy access to the exit and garage.

I am as skilled as any at making a quick exit to avoid traffic, and with a hustle to the parking garage and an alternate route to I-95 through downtown Miami, I was home about an hour after the game ended.

I loved the experience. It had a “big game” feel, with performances in-between periods, fireworks and the sound of 2x the usual crowd at an NHL game. I can say it was the first hockey game I’ve ever been to where you could see the moon and watch flights on arrival to Miami Airport. And it is technically the southernmost NHL game of all time – the old Miami Arena was three blocks north of this stadium from a latitude perspective.

Here’s a video short of some of the moments including the opening faceoff and Ranger fans celebrating after a goal: