Milano Hockey Venue Delays Could Force NHL Players on Unproven Playing Surface
Forget about thin ice. For now, the surface isn't ready.
With NHL athletes preparing to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the first time in more than a ten years, building work on the main hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.
Officials confirmed on Wednesday that the primary trial competition for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia arena originally planned for December has been relocated to a smaller arena – and that no additional trial has been scheduled yet.
This situation raises the prospect that there may not be a game held in the main arena until the puck is dropped for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the opening ceremony.
“The timeline will be extremely tight to the start of the Olympics, the timeline is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milano Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said in a recent update.
The event that was intended to test the Santagiulia ice was a segment of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved to the Rho Fair hockey location, which is being set up inside a giant convention center on Milan’s outskirts and will stage secondary matches during the Olympics.
Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the prior year to holding podium competitions. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not just about the ice and making sure that the playing surface is ready and safe. It’s also about checking concession stands, bathrooms and all other amenities inside a brand-new contemporary arena.
The Santagiulia venue, which is being built by a private company, is slated to become the nation's biggest covered stadium. For after the Olympics, it’s being considered as a possible future host of the ATP Finals tennis event.
Despite the delays and concerns, high-priced tickets are already being purchased for matches at the Santagiulia arena. Seats for the men’s gold medal game on 22 February – the final day of the games – are going for as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). That’s more than for any other sports event at the Milano Cortina Games. Only passes for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.
The return of NHL stars at the Olympics was revealed last February, with the premier hockey organization allowing its athletes to compete in the Winter Games for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.
Men's Olympic hockey competition is set to take place from 11-22 February. Women's tournament occurs from 5-19 February.