The National Hockey League is set to stage the 2026 NHL Winter Classic tonight in Miami, with the Florida Panthers hosting the New York Rangers at LoanDepot Park, home of Major League Baseball’s Miami Marlins.
The game marks the first time the NHL Winter Classic (or any outdoor NHL game, for that matter) has been held in Florida. It is the 17th Winter Classic game and the 44th outdoor game in league history.
2026 WINTER CLASSIC LOGO
At the core of the event’s branding is the 2026 NHL Winter Classic logo, featuring the familiar scripted “Winter” wordmark, set in white and highlighted by a streaking hockey puck forming the dot over the letter “i.” The word “CLASSIC” appears directly below, stylized in pink and white neon-style lettering, a reference to Miami’s signature nightlife and Art Deco design aesthetic.
Above the wordmark, a brown palm tree with green fronds stands tall, complete with four coconuts and a slight dusting of snow sitting atop its leaves. At the base of the logo, “Miami” is written in a pink script font with a curved blue underline, resting atop a small mound of snow.
The overall result continues the Winter Classic’s semi-templated logo style of paying tribute to each host while incorporating a consistent event typeface from year to year. It’s one of the stronger examples of a templated event design currently being used in North America’s “Big Four” sports leagues.
2026 WINTER CLASSIC UNIFORMS
As always, the Winter Classic features new, traditionally styled uniforms, with the host Florida Panthers tapping into the state’s mostly overlooked pro hockey history and the visiting New York Rangers sticking close to their established identity.
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The Panthers’ uniform introduces a re-imagined version of the club’s original leaping panther logo, constructed to resemble a 1930s-era crest complete with felt textures and chain stitching. The uniform was developed collaboratively between the Panthers, Fanatics, and the NHL throughout a lengthy design process. Panthers vice chairman John Viola spoke to SportsLogos.Net about the project, describing it as a shared, multi-iteration effort rather than a single direction.
“It was little contributions here and there, little tweaks, suggestions, inspirations from all corners that built this thing out,” Viola said. “I can’t tell you who came up with what. So much of it was driven by back and forth, many, many, many iterations to get specifically what we were looking for.”
The red, blue, and yellow colour palette blends shades from past Panthers uniforms with variations developed specifically for the Winter Classic. Leather-style gloves and pants complete the look, with chevrons sewn into the player numbers as a reference to regional military history.
On the pants sits a new Florida-themed shield logo, the helmet includes a new flag design, and a silhouette of the rat appears on the rear hem loop.
Florida’s hockey roots trace back to the Tropical Hockey League, a short-lived professional league in South Florida in the late 1930s that included the Miami Beach Pirates, Miami Clippers, Havana Tropicals, and the 1939 champion Coral Gables Seminoles.
“I hope that these uniforms shine as much as we believe they can,” Viola said. “I hope they continue to shine and serve as a part of our visual identity for a long time to come.”
In New York, the Rangers’ Winter Classic uniform ties directly into the club’s existing Centennial program. Built off their blue anniversary set based on the team’s original 1926-27 design, the Winter Classic jersey effectively serves as a cream-coloured counterpart. The uniform features diagonal “NEW YORK” lettering in blue, with blue and red striping on each arm and around the waist. All lettering, including player names and numbers, appears in single-colour blue. On the shoulder is a red apple “NYR” shoulder logo, carried over from the anniversary set.
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2026 WINTER CLASSIC RINK LAYOUT
Earlier this week, the league released its first official rendering of the rink and stadium layout we’ll see tonight at LoanDepot Park.
The stadium floor is split cleanly in half. One side features sand-toned surfaces, palm trees, beach chairs, flamingos, and a small street hockey rink. The other side presents the opposite scene, with snow covering the ground and beach chairs, a backyard ice rink, pelicans replacing flamingos, and a lifeguard stand outfitted with a snowplow instead of rescue gear. Palm trees remain in place across the entire field.
The warmer side of the floor is built around tans and soft pinks, while the opposite half relies on whites, pale blues, and greys. Team wordmarks and logos appear on both sides of the field, and a concert stage sits in centre field.
UPCOMING OUTDOOR NHL GAMES
Tonight’s game is the first of two outdoor NHL games to be held in Florida during the 2025-26 season. The Tampa Bay Lightning will host the Boston Bruins in the 2026 Stadium Series at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on February 1. The NHL has already announced one of what will likely be three outdoor games next season, the 2026 Heritage Classic will be played in Winnipeg between the host Jets and the Montreal Canadiens on October 25.
As mentioned, the 2026 NHL Winter Classic will be played tonight at LoanDepot Park in Miami and will be televised live on Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada, as well as on TNT in the United States, starting at 8 pm ET.
