Go behind (and under) the scenes: setting up an ice skating rink in Tampa

Ice skating in Florida, to some, feels a bit like suntanning in Alaska.

But there are two NHL teams in the state, in Tampa and South Florida, of course, multiple minor league teams and dozens of ice skating rinks available for people of all ages. 

There’s also a Winter Village in downtown Tampa, with its own outdoor ice rink. While the Holiday Season spectacular, held at Curtis Hixon Park and put on by the Tampa Downtown Partnership, has had an ice skating rink going back a decade, this year carries a deeper meaning. That’s because the NHL is bringing its popular outdoor series to Florida in 2026. The Winter Classic is scheduled for Jan. 2, with the Florida Panthers vs. the New York Rangers, while the Stadium Series game is scheduled for Feb. 1, with the Tampa Bay Lightning hosting the Boston Bruins at Raymond James Stadium.

“We’re going to  have ice in Tampa and Raymond James Stadium in front of a packed house,” says Lightning vice president of communications and content Brian Breseman. “It’s something you never thought would be possible.”

“It’s going to be a spectacle and fun to watch,” he adds. 

Bresman and other officials, including Ivy Lupco with the Tampa Downtown Partnership and Chad Kolar with Ice Rink Events gathered at Curtis Hixon Park Nov. 18 for a media event to showcase the ice and how it works. The ice, officials say, comes together through a “complex system of chilling pipes, careful freezing of many layers of water, a miniature Zamboni and pieces of “starter ice” brought to the park from Benchmark International Arena, the nearby home of the Lightning. (The team is a presenting sponsor of Winter Village; the Tampa Downtown Partnership  is a private, membership-based nonprofit composed of companies, organizations and individuals with a common goal of advancing Tampa's Downtown.)

Photo by Stehlik Foto

Chad Kolar with Ice Rink Events says one key to building ice in warmth: patience. “It’s harder to build ice in Florida than in other places,” he says, “so we tend to do that overnight from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. every day. We probably do about 55 hours worth of ice here to get to 3.5 inches of ice so it’s definitely a lot.”

Bresman, in his media interview, chipped away at the Lightning’s in-state competitor, the Panthers. That teams’ outdoor game will be played in LoanDepot Park, home to MLB’s Miami Marlins, which has a retractable roof. “They actually have a roof so they’re cheating,” Bresman quips.