Milano Hockey Venue Delays Could Leave NHL Players on Unproven Playing Surface

Put aside thin ice. Currently, there’s no ice.

As NHL players preparing to return to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in more than a ten years, construction on the primary hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the main test event for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia arena that was scheduled for December has been moved to a more compact arena – and that no new test event has been arranged yet.

The issue creates the possibility that there might not be a game held in the primary venue until the puck is dropped for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – one day before the opening ceremony.

“The timeline will be extremely tight to the beginning of the games, the timeline is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier said in a recent update.

The competition that was intended to test the Santagiulia ice was part of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved to the Rho Fair hockey location, which is being established inside a giant exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will host lesser games during the games.

Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are tested at least the year before to holding podium competitions. And with a sizable hockey venue, it’s not only about the ice and ensuring that the rink is prepared and secure. It’s also about testing concession stands, bathrooms and everything else inside a brand-new contemporary arena.

This new facility, which is being constructed by a commercial firm, is slated to become Italy’s largest covered stadium. For after the Olympics, it’s being considered as a possible future host of the ATP Finals tennis tournament.

In spite of the postponements and worries, expensive passes are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia arena. Seats for the men's championship final on 22 February – the closing day of the games – are going for as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). This exceeds the price of any other athletic competition at the Milano Cortina Games. Solely passes for the opening and closing ceremonies cost more.

The return of NHL players at the Olympics was announced in February of last year, with the world’s top hockey league permitting its athletes to participate in the Winter Olympics for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

The men’s Olympic hockey tournament is set to take place from 11-22 February. The women’s event occurs from 5-19 February.