WINNIPEG — The rink is taking shape inside Princess Auto Stadium, where the NHL’s travelling refrigeration system is turning a CFL field into an outdoor sheet for the Winnipeg Jets and Montreal Canadiens. The teams meet in the 2026 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic on Oct. 25, with puck drop set for 7 p.m. ET.
Key takeaways
- Winnipeg and Montreal will play the Heritage Classic at Princess Auto Stadium on Oct. 25.
- The outdoor rink is being built by a crew of more than 100 workers under NHL facilities leadership.
- A 53-foot refrigeration unit, capable of handling 300 tons, is central to maintaining the playing surface.
- The system can use up to 3,000 gallons of glycol coolant while adjusting ice conditions as weather changes.
- Princess Auto Stadium has a listed capacity of 32,343 for Blue Bombers games.
A hometown outdoor build
Derek King, the NHL vice president of hockey operations responsible for advising on League facility operations, is overseeing the build in the Winnipeg area where he grew up. Raised in Hazelridge, Manitoba, King said the assignment carries an added personal touch.
“It’s good to be back home for an event like this,” King said. He pointed to outdoor hockey’s connection with the sport’s earliest settings — ponds, lakes and community rinks — and noted that the stadium has no roof to shield the game from the conditions.
“Whatever the elements are on game day, that’s what we’ll get,” he said, calling that part of the appeal.
King’s link to rink work goes well beyond NHL-scale operations. As a teenager, he helped make ice at his local rink with a garden hose. He is still doing the same kind of work at home, saying he had been watering a backyard rink for his children before heading to the stadium site.
That hands-on connection is a fitting backdrop for the Heritage Classic, as well as the Winter Classic and Stadium Series. The events bring NHL players into open-air venues, but the ice beneath them must meet the same standard as an indoor rink.
Monitoring every layer of the ice
The NHL’s mobile ice plant makes those games possible in settings ranging from warm-weather markets to the Canadian Prairies. At Winnipeg, the equipment crew will monitor the sheet every day until the opening faceoff, with no pause in the schedule.
King said the refrigeration setup can alter the temperature within the ice, cooling it when necessary or raising it when conditions demand a different response. Sensors placed beneath and on top of the surface provide readings on ice temperature, while additional monitors in the unit track glycol temperature and flow.
“We keep pace as the technology evolves,” King said. “We watch those readings closely so we can deliver the best possible sheet for game day.”
The work will continue around the clock through the final preparation period. For King, the payoff will come when the football stadium is filled for a Jets game rather than a Blue Bombers date.
“It’s remarkable there for Blue Bombers games,” he said. “To bring that kind of crowd in for the Jets should make it a special day.”
The Heritage Classic will be televised on TVAS, SN, TNT, truTV and HBO Max.
