Too cold for ice: Ohio Stadium begins transformation for NHL Stadium Series game

Ohio Stadium has begun its transformation into an NHL arena as it prepares to host its first ever outdoor hockey game.

The Columbus Blue Jackets will take on the Detroit Red Wings in the 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at Ohio Stadium on March 1.

Check out the gallery for a look at the early Ohio Stadium preparations:

Crews are hard at work getting the field ready. Wednesday afternoon, workers wearing bright fluorescent vests crisscrossed the football field, carrying materials and driving forklifts. The turf was almost completely covered with plastic plates, the only remaining sign of the field’s branding a Big Ten Conference logo that had yet to be covered.

There’s no ice rink yet, though. No man-made ice had been made for the game as of Wednesday because of the weather, Ohio State University President Ted Carter said at a press event.

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“Believe it or not, it’s a little cold here now for us to even turn all the water on, so we need the temperatures to come up just a little bit, but they’re going to make ice here starting on Friday,” Carter said.

Once it’s installed, two NHL Mobile Refrigeration Units can maintain the rink in temperatures of up to 70 degrees, Carter said.

 

Carter is no stranger to hockey. He first played the sport at age 3, skating on a pond near where he grew up. He went on to become the team captain of the U.S. Naval Academy’s team, where he received his undergraduate degree.

hio Stadium was recently winterized to accommodate the expanded College Football Playoff’s first-round home game. That expansion helped make the upcoming hockey game possible, Ohio State Athletic Director Ross Bjork said at a press event

We had to upgrade the stadium. We don’t want to host a game, right? We want to be in the top four and have a bye (week) and all those kind of things. But you have to have your stadium ready,” he said.