Outdoor hockey in Tampa becomes possible with NHL's climate-controlled structure

The NHL installed an air-conditioned, tension-fabric building over the rink at Raymond James Stadium to enable Sunday’s Stadium Series game in Tampa, and the league and its partners ran tests and rehearsals after years of planning to solve heat, humidity and dismantling challenges.

The NHL is staging a Stadium Series outdoor game at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa and has used a new climate-controlled, tension-fabric structure to protect the ice. The Lightning and league officials spent years pursuing an outdoor game in Tampa and tested multiple designs before settling on a steel-framed, engineered membrane that can be assembled and removed quickly. The structure stood over the ice for the week ahead of the game and will be taken down on game day to allow the scheduled 6:30 p.m. ET faceoff. The idea grew from persistent efforts by team leadership and a chance connection with a manufacturer that developed the final design. What we know: - The event is the NHL’s 45th outdoor game in league history and is being presented as a Stadium Series game at Raymond James Stadium. - The league used an air-conditioned, tension-fabric structure about 34 feet high, 125 feet wide and 240 feet long to control climate over the rink. - League officials and the manufacturer conducted tests and rehearsals to ensure the structure can be assembled and removed safely and quickly; it is divided into sections on rails for that purpose. - The league adjusted its dismantling schedule because of a cooler forecast, beginning removal at 12 a.m. and planning to finish by about 10 a.m. on game day for the 6:30 p.m. ET faceoff. - Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman remains uncertain about playing as he works back from an elbow injury, and Lightning governor Jeff Vinik will not attend after suffering a leg fracture in an unrelated accident. Summary: The NHL and local partners engineered a climate-controlled cover so an NHL-quality rink could be installed and protected in Tampa’s warm, humid conditions, and teams rehearsed the build and breakdown process in advance. The immediate next milestone is the structure’s removal and the scheduled 6:30 p.m. ET faceoff; other outcomes related to players’ availability were not finalized in the reporting.