MIAMI \u2014 Oh, the weather outside is frightful \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cActually, it\u2019s kind of nice,\u201d Florida Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling said.<\/p>\n
It\u2019ll be in the 50s for Friday night\u2019s Winter Classic hockey game between the Panthers and New York Rangers at loanDepot park. The only way for a native South Floridian to sit comfortably in that for three hours is with a blowtorch.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s hockey weather for us,\u2019\u2019 said the Finnish Forsling.<\/p>\n
Yes, they didn\u2019t just bring winter\u2019s game to be played in a fun and festive atmosphere Friday night. They brought winter, too, at least as we Nanooks of South Florida define it.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s even \u201csnow\u201d in the forecast at the game, though the NHL isn\u2019t saying how they\u2019re pulling that off. But this regular NHL event has become so popular around the league in actual cold-weather cities the league brought it to this battleground of their sport and our subtropics.<\/p>\n
The Miami Marlins\u2019 stadium has been transformed with beach chairs and sand symbolizing South Florida in left field and snow and ice depicting the Rangers\u2019 climes in right field. Some entertainers will wear beach clothes. Others, parkas.<\/p>\n
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There, where the infield typically sits, is a regulation ice rink that passed the most important test of all during the Panthers\u2019 practice Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ice is fantastic,\u2019\u2019 Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.<\/p>\n
Wait until he gets the electric bill.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve heard of the Miracle on Ice? This is the Miracle of Ice. Getting it right is part of the charming challenge of playing the Winter Classic with the stadium\u2019s roof open, so the game is outside.<\/p>\n
The concept of this regular game around the league is to re-create the outdoor atmosphere these players and coaches grew up on. This Maurice\u2019s third Winter Classic and he\u2019s enthralled with the idea.<\/p>\n
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\u201cMaybe it\u2019s just the fact that they\u2019re going to open the roof, and you\u2019re actually on an outdoor rink \u2014 ODR, in Canada,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cThat\u2019s how these guys started, the ones from the north anyway.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, there\u2019s a certain amount of feeling that in these games that\u2019s not in the regular season grind and snarl.\u201d<\/p>\n
Playing in the snow some years back with Carolina is a moment frozen in time for him. Of course, some youthful memories of outdoor play are left behind. Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky grew up in Siberia and remembers playing in minus-22 degrees.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were literally freezing,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cWe lost 10-0. The next day it was like (23 degrees) and we won 10-0.\u201d<\/p>\n
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With consecutive Stanley Cups, all of South Florida is past the point of wondering when they talk about ice if they mean one cube or two.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not past the point wondering what it\u2019s like to sit outside in mid-50s weather as forecast. That\u2019d be a balmy January night in Boston.<\/p>\n
In South Florida, people will dress like they\u2019re robbing a 7-Eleven in Manitoba. Parka. Scarf. Long johns. Winter hat. Fleece-lined boots. Thick mittens.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019ll be cool,\u2019\u2019 Panthers veteran Brad Marchand said.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t mean cool as in cold but as in wonderful. His two previous Winter Classics showed how special the atmosphere could be.<\/p>\n
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\u201cOne of my favorite parts about these games is the walkout,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re walking out to the rink, and you get to take all that in and get to see the scenery. Hopefully, we\u2019ll see the city in the background.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once the puck drops, he said, it\u2019s another game for the players. It\u2019s an important game for both teams trying to keep a foothold in their season.<\/p>\n
The Panthers showed what\u2019s coming as injured Matthew Tkachuk skated in practice Thursday wearing a non-contact jersey and captain Aleksander Barkov skated lightly before practice.<\/p>\n
Their appearance in the season is ahead. Friday is here with this fun and ambitious turning of the subtropics into a Winter Wonderland. You could see at Thursday\u2019s practice how the players enjoy a quirky change to their season.<\/p>\n
Now comes Friday\u2019s outdoor game that will really feel outdoors.<\/p>\n
Then, when it\u2019s over, let\u2019s hope the heat gets turned back on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI \u2014 Oh, the weather outside is frightful \u2026 \u201cActually, it\u2019s kind of nice,\u201d Florida Panthers defenseman Gustav…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":385597,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[91,154,254,194,1231,5,94,8776,35,4,63,804,36,11,806,11764],"class_list":["post-385596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-aleksander-barkov","tag-boston","tag-brad-marchand","tag-carolina","tag-gustav-forsling","tag-hockey","tag-matthew-tkachuk","tag-miami-marlins","tag-new-york-rangers","tag-nhl","tag-panthers","tag-paul-maurice","tag-rangers","tag-sergei-bobrovsky","tag-south-florida","tag-winter-classic"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115822378655191960","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}