Imagine two helicopters from MacDill Air Force Base flying 20 miles north to Raymond James Stadium to lift a dome-like structure protecting the ice and taking it up, up and away as 65,000 get their first look at the Stadium Series rink.
The Tampa Bay region has had enough problems with domed structures, though it would have been quite a spectacle for the fans taking in the February 1 matchup between the host Tampa Bay Lightning and the Boston Bruins.
“It would have been awesome TV,” Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois beamed when meeting with local media on a January morning at Benchmark International Arena, beyond the walls of which the mercury would later reach 81. “It would look amazing. A made-for-TV event.”
It could also have been a made-for-catastrophe event. As such, the idea ended up on the cutting room floor. Alas, credit the NHL for thinking well outside the box ahead of its 45th outdoor game that will also be the first in an open-air venue in the Sunshine State. (Speaking of outside the box, a billboard that could be seen by NHL officials heading to the airport following the 2018 all-star game at the venue then known as Amalie Arena suggested the league bring an outdoor game to Tampa.)
The league ultimately settled on an air-conditioned tent-like structure that will take up to three days to construct. At 34 feet high, 125 feet in width and 240 feet long, the assembly will be erected in sections and on rails while shielding the ice from what could be an unfavorable temperature and humidity combination. It will be disassembled right before the 6:30 faceoff, a time when direct sunlight will not be a factor.
According to AccuWeather, the high temperature at nearby Tampa International Airport last February 1 was 75 with a low of 60. The humidity peaked at 78 percent in late evening. The ice covering is expected to take as much as six hours to disassemble leading up to puck drop. Dry runs on assembling and disassembling the apparatus were performed in Texas where the manufacturer, Winnipeg-based GNB Global, has a facility in Dallas.
MORE FOR YOU
“This will be different than anything you have ever seen,” said commissioner Gary Bettman, who was in Tampa on January 6 for the Lightning’s game against Colorado.
Bettman noted players practicing and family members skating in the days leading up to an outdoor game typically capture the flavor for how everything will look and feel come game time. Not so at Raymond James. How the field looks is something Bettman said will not be visible until very close to puck drop when such fixtures and decorative details are “basically” wheeled onto the field.
“If you went to the family skates or the practice days at some of other outdoor games, you look (around) and see how we outfitted the stadium,” he said. “(At Raymond James), you’re not going to know until you see the whole effort of taking (the tent) apart and unveiling it.”
The challenges will be many, but the league is ready for an event that will coincide with Tampa’s annual Gasparilla festivities.
“We wouldn’t be doing this if we didn’t think we could do it,” said Bettman. “Now, as with all outdoor games, you can get really unlucky on a variety of things beyond your control, but we think we are in a position to manage that as well as can be. We have the resources, the technology, the right people to do it. I think it’s going to be a truly fun day.”
The January 2 Winter Classic inside the home of the Florida Marlins, Miami’s LoanDepot Park, had no such preparation mechanics ahead of the Panthers and Rangers. The domed venue remained closed and air-conditioned during preparation and the roof was not opened until before game time. The teams then played beneath a clear nighttime sky with the temperature in the low-60s.
There are always going to be challenges regardless of location and weather. They include, as Bettman noted, factors that cannot be controlled. An example he cited as one of the most challenging conditions was in Pittsburgh for the 2011 Winter Classic match between the Penguins and Capitals. Even with the start time at Heinz Field moved back several hours from early afternoon to evening, Mother Nature remained uncooperative with the temperature in the 50s and a light rain that caused puddling on the ice.
Alas, the league controlled the environment in Miami and will attempt to do so in an unprecedented and ambitious manner in Tampa.