From Frozen Ponds to South Florida: Rangers’ Outdoor Hockey History Clashes with Florida Panthers in the 2026 NHL Winter Classic

If you grew up playing the game of hockey or were raised in or around a hockey family, you know that one of the truly special thing about the game is being on a frozen sheet of ice outdoors where the game originated.

It's an undeniable atmosphere: the feeling of lacing up the skates with painfully frigid fingers, and of being greeted with the winter chill as you’re skating around a wide open space. Few things may beat the feeling of scoring a big goal—whether it’s your first, your 100th, the 15th goal of a blowout win, or an overtime game winner. But one of the best goal celebrations of all time comes after you score one on a frozen pond and raise your arms in celebration in a scene that is fit for a postcard. 

The NHL’s Winter Classic is one of the few things the NHL really does right. A yearly outdoor game makes for a unique sporting event. It counts the same as any of the other 81 games an NHL team plays throughout the season but for the two sides lucky enough to partake in the event, it immediately becomes one of the biggest games of the year.

This year, the lucky teams involved are the New York Rangers and the Florida Panthers. 

Heading into the 17th NHL Winter Classic, the Rangers and Panthers find themselves in somewhat similar positions in the standings. The Panthers currently have 45 points in 39 games played, while the Rangers have 43 points in 42 games. Both sides have seen success in recent years, albeit with the Panthers having far more success as the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions. This season, however, both sides have been plagued with injuries, lack consistency, and are struggling to hold onto or climb into a playoff spot through the first half of the season.

That means his game will not only be a special event, but will have a pair of extremely important points to both teams up for grabs.

The Rangers might come into the game with a slight advantage, as they are no strangers to playing in these types of settings. This outing will be a historic one for the Panthers as well as the league, as it’s the Panthers’ first outdoor game and the first one to take place in the state of Florida. For anyone concerned with the ice or the stadium keeping the roof open, it appears that the conditions won't be as out of the ordinary as you might expect for South Florida.

The Rangers have participated in a total of five outdoor games: two previous Winter Classics and three Stadium Series games. The Rangers are undefeated in those five outdoor match-ups. Their first Winter Classic appearance came in the fifth game in the showcase outdoor series in 2012, which took place at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pa.

2012 Winter Classic: Rangers vs. Flyers—Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, Pa.

The Philadelphia Flyers hosted the Rangers in what would become a memorable 3-2 win for the Blueshirts.

This may come as a shock to you, but the Rangers didn't get off to the best start, finding themselves trailing 2-0 midway through the second period. Then-rookie Brayden Schenn opened the scoring for the Flyers with his first career NHL goal, and a young Claude Giroux extended the lead to two just a few minutes later. Down by two in need of a momentum shifter, the Rangers found it from former enforcer and current NHL analyst Mike Rupp.

While his hands were more synonymous with fighting than goal scoring, a rare two-goal showing from Rupp became one of the biggest stories to come from the 2012 Winter Classic. Rupp, who only had a career total of 54 goals in 609 career games played, scored to bring the Rangers within one towards the end of the second period and tied the game up just two and a half minutes into the third. Rupp anchored the fourth line alongside John Mitchell and Brandon Prust, who both assisted on each of the two goals. Outdoor games can oftentimes be wonky in the sense that you never know what weird bounce or glare from the sun could distract the opposing goaltender enough to work in your favor. Rupp generated both of those goals from simple wrist shots that a young Sergei Bobrovsky had trouble tracking. 

The most notable moment from what I’m willing to guess was Rupp’s only multi-goal night of his career came after his first of the night, as he did his best Jaromir Jagr impression with his iconic “salute” goal celebration. The surefire Hall of Famer and former Rangers star was on the opposing bench at that moment, a member of the 2011-12 Flyers team.

The game-winner came from Brad Richards on a rebound, as Ryan Callahan dished it from behind the net to Brandon Dubinsky who fired the shot off the pad with Richards wide open on the other side to bury it. 

Closing out the win wouldn't be uneventful for the Rangers, as with 20 seconds left the officials called a penalty shot for the Flyers. Following a net front scramble as the Flyers tried to tie the game up with their net empty, Ryan McDonagh sprawled through the crease to help out netminder Henrik Lundqvist, but ended up covering the puck completely with his hand. That warrants a penalty shot and taking it was none other than one of Philly's top players, Daniel Briere. 

In an instant classic and thrilling moment, Lundqvist came up with a huge pad save to secure the Rangers 3-2 win.

The Rangers’ second Winter Classic game took place six years later at the 10th Winter Classic where they hosted the Buffalo Sabres at Citi Field in Flushing, NY. 

2018 Winter Classic: Rangers vs. Sabres—Citi Field, Flushing, NY

It seems to be the unlikely heroes that step up in these big outdoor games and this one was no exception, as Paul Carey (remember him?) opened the scoring for the Rangers just four minutes into the contest. The Boston, Mass.-native was a fifth round draft pick out of Boston College and only went on to appear in 100 career NHL games, throughout whch he only collected 16 points split across eight goals and eight assists. And yet, one of them came on one of hockey’s biggest stages. 

Four minutes after Carey scored, Michael Grabner gave the Rangers a 2-0 for his 18th goal of the season. The 2017-18 season was the second of two massive campaigns for Grabner as a Ranger in which he averaged 26 goals a season and played a key role on a transitioning Rangers team. Fresh off a second round exit in the 2017 postseason, the Rangers would go on to miss the playoffs in 2018 as the era of The Letter was upon us.

(Some trivia: Grabner was eventually traded to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for a 2018 second round draft pick and prospect Yegor Rykov. Rykov only played 27 games with the Hartford Wolf Pack and has played in the KHL ever since. The second round pick, however, was packaged to move up in the draft to select K’Andre Miller. Between Scott Morrow and all the draft picks that came with that move, that trade tree has a chance to live on for quite some time.)

The Sabres would go on to score within the opening minute of both the second and third period to tie the game at two. Sam Reinhart had the first one in the second period on a power play, and Rasmus Ristolainen would tie it up in the third. The game went to overtime and it was once-and0-future Ranger J.T. Miller—who seven years later appears to be the only Rangers player who can score in overtime—picked up the game winner.

Stadium Series Games

I have mixed feelings about the NHL's Stadium Series. In a way, I feel it takes away from what makes the Winter Classic so special. But at the same time, they're often equally as exciting and excel at helping grow the game. The Rangers played a pair of Stadium Series games in 2014, both at Yankee Stadium.

The first was a 7-3 win against the New Jersey Devils, which seemed unlikely when they trailed 3-1 late in the first. Marc Staal scored his third of the season late in the first to start what would be a six goal deluge from the Rangers, featuring tallies from Mats Zuccarello, Carl Hagelin, Rick Nash, and finally Derek Stepan, whose goal came in the form of a penalty shot.

The Rangers also faced the New York Islanders at Yankee Stadium just three days after their win against the Devils. After a scoreless first and nearly scoreless second, a goal from Brock Nelson put the Islanders on the board. The Rangers were quick to answer, as Benoit Pouliot converted 40 seconds later. The game-winner in this one also came in the form of an unlikely hero as Daniel Carcillo picked up his third of the season with assists from Dominic Moore and current MSG Network analyst and color commentator Brian Boyle.

And most recently, the Rangers picked up another win outdoors against the Islanders in the form of a thrilling 6-5 overtime win at MetLife Stadium in 2024. This game was the emotional NHL debut of Matt Rempe who fought Matt Martin on the anniversary of his fathers passing. While Rempe set the tone, Artemi Panarin was the hero in a suspenseful overtime that required a review on the game-winning goal.

2026 Winter Classic: Rangers vs. Panthers—LoanDepot Park, Miami, Fla.

There are plenty of mixed feelings with the Winter Classic taking place in a traditionally warmer setting such as Florida. While I can understand that point of view, my bigger issue with the NHL and the Winter Classic is how they're caving in the battle for national attention.

Historically, the event is typically held in the afternoon on New Years Day. But over the years, it has been pushed ahead or behind to accommodate for college football playoffs. To me, that's unacceptable. The NHL is, or at least is supposed to be, a professional sports league. They've done lots of great work to compete with the other major sports leagues for attention, and while they're never going to be as popular as the NFL they're not going to be successful in terms of the major sports leagues if they're unwilling to compete for attention with NCAA football.

Taking hockey outdoors in Florida is fine, but there is a case to be made that this wasn't the matchup for it. While I'll gladly take more Rangers Winter Classic games, perhaps the Panthers should have been taking on a more natural rival like the Tampa Bay Lightning. I get wanting the bigger market appeal from a team like the Rangers, but this matchup has unfortunately aged out of what the NHL was hoping, with the Panthers struggling following two straight Stanley Cup championships and the Rangers doing, well, what the Rangers are doing this season. That may be for reasons that couldn't have been predicted (injuries being a big one), but starting the Panthers with a Stadium Series game might have been the better move.

Nonetheless, the Rangers and Panthers have recent playoff history with each other and are in dire need of kicking off the new year on the right foot. Injuries and underwhelming feelings aside, this has the potential to be another Winter Classic for the history books and will hopefully, increase in viewership compared to last year's record low.

The puck drops on the 2026 NHL Winter Classic on Friday, January 2, at 8 p.m. ET, and airs in the U.S. on TNT, truTV, and HBO Max, with streaming on HBO Max and TNTdrama.com. Pre-game coverage starts at 7 p.m. ET on TNT/HBO Max.

Enjoy!