{"id":389898,"date":"2026-01-04T08:09:40","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T08:09:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/389898\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T08:09:40","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T08:09:40","slug":"hockey-fans-rage-at-national-anthem-and-bizarre-walk-out-music-for-rangers-and-panthers-players-at-winter-classic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/389898\/","title":{"rendered":"Hockey fans rage at national anthem and bizarre walk-out music for Rangers and Panthers players at Winter Classic"},"content":{"rendered":"

By JAMES COHEN, SPORTS REPORTER<\/a> <\/p>\n

Published: 21:54 EST, 2 January 2026 | Updated: 00:11 EST, 3 January 2026 <\/p>\n

Hockey fans have voiced their frustration after organizers opted for a bizarre walk-out song prior to the NHL Winter Classic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Florida<\/a> Panthers and the New York Rangers<\/a> met on Friday night for the annual outdoor regular season game which, this year, was held in Miami, Florida.<\/p>\n

However, fans were left incensed before the game even began, after the players for both teams walked out while Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi performed ‘Despacito’.<\/p>\n

Much to the bemusement of hockey fans, the\u00a0four-time Latin Grammy<\/a> Award winner stood center stage as the Panthers and Rangers emerged onto the ice on Friday.<\/p>\n

Fans quickly questioned the decision to have the 2017 hit performed live by Fonsi, with many claiming it didn’t fit with traditional Winter Classic values.<\/p>\n

And it didn’t take long for them to air that on social media. Taking to X, one fan wrote: ‘This has got to be the worst Winter Classic lol why [have] they got Luis Fonzi playing despacito while announcing the players to the ice’.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Hockey <\/p>\n

Hockey fans voiced their anger after a bizarre walk-out song played prior to the Winter Classic<\/p>\n

\"Puerto <\/p>\n

Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi performed his 2017 hit ‘Despacito’ on Friday night<\/p>\n

\"Fonsi <\/p>\n

Fonsi stood center stage as he performed while the players made their way to the ice<\/p>\n

‘I\u2019m so utterly confused by this winter classic. like stop trying to be \u201ccool\u201d. it\u2019s a classic for a reason. why are the rangers walking out to despacito rn’, said another.<\/p>\n

One disgruntled fan also said: ‘The New York Rangers are walking out to Despacito right now in Miami that is 63\u00b0F What is 2026’.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another wrote: ‘laughing so incredibly hard at the rangers and panthers walking out to despacito at the nhl winter classic’.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In response to that post, another said: ‘Just awful lol. Who is their target audience?’<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, one fan said: ‘Why tf am I watching “Despacito” being performed at a Hockey game lol. They said it was Luis Fonsi’s “LATEST” hit. Brother that s*** came out 9 years ago’.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While fans vented their anger at ‘Despacito’ being performed, that wasn’t the only musical performance that they critiqued.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Similarly, after\u00a0Sgt. Emily Nichols of the Florida National Guard sang The Star-Spangled Banner, fans took to social media to rip into the performance.<\/p>\n

One user said: ‘I can’t stand the lady singing the national anthem I am so sorry’.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Fans <\/p>\n

Fans similarly took issue with the rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner performed by Sgt. Emily Nichols of the Florida National Guard on Friday night prior to the Winter Classic<\/p>\n

\"\" \"\" \"\" \"Fans <\/p>\n

Fans quickly questioned the decision to have Fonsi perform Despacito on Friday night<\/p>\n

\"\" \"Meanwhile, <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, other fans took aim at the\u00a0Sgt. Nichols over her national anthem rendition<\/p>\n

‘Did that National Anthem singer think this was an American Idol audition,’ another wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The incident comes just one week after NBA star LeBron James was accused of ‘disrespecting’ the national anthem prior to the Lakers’ Christmas Day game<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Footage showed James warming up while a rendition of the\u00a0Star-Spangled Banner was performed and, seemingly, even took the opportunity to practice his golf swing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Lakers star has previously admitted in recent months that he’s become infatuated with golf and has been spotted on the course on multiple occasions.<\/p>\n

Share or comment on this article:
\n Hockey fans rage at national anthem and bizarre walk-out music for Rangers and Panthers players at Winter Classic<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By JAMES COHEN, SPORTS REPORTER Published: 21:54 EST, 2 January 2026 | Updated: 00:11 EST, 3 January 2026…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":389899,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5102],"tags":[3896,62,57,5141,5,4,63,208],"class_list":["post-389898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida-panthers","tag-dailymail","tag-florida","tag-florida-panthers","tag-floridapanthers","tag-hockey","tag-nhl","tag-panthers","tag-sport"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115835815198275780","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389898","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=389898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/389899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}