Milano Ice Hockey Venue Delays Could Leave NHL Players on Unproven Playing Surface
Forget about poor conditions. For now, there’s no ice.
With NHL athletes preparing to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the first time in over a decade, construction on the primary hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.
Local organizers announced on Wednesday that the primary trial competition for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia arena that was scheduled for December has been moved to a smaller arena – and that no additional trial has been arranged yet.
The issue creates the possibility that there might not be a match held in the main arena until the competition begins for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – one day before the inaugural event.
“It’s going to be extremely tight to the beginning of the games, the timeline is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier stated in a recent update.
The competition that was supposed to test the Santagiulia playing surface was part of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fair hockey venue, which is being set up inside a giant convention center on Milan’s outskirts and will stage lesser games during the games.
Usually, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the prior year to holding podium competitions. And with a sizable hockey venue, it’s not only about the playing surface and ensuring that the rink is ready and safe. It’s additionally about testing food outlets, bathrooms and everything else inside a newly constructed modern stadium.
This new facility, which is being built by a commercial firm, is slated to become the nation's largest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being considered as a potential upcoming venue of the ATP Finals tennis event.
Despite the delays and concerns, expensive passes are already being sold for events at the Santagiulia arena. Seats for the men's championship final on 22 February – the final day of the Olympics – are priced at as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). This exceeds the price of any other sports event at the Milan-Cortina Games. Only passes for the opening and closing ceremonies cost more.
The comeback of NHL stars at the Olympics was revealed in February of last year, with the world’s top hockey organization allowing its athletes to participate in the Winter Games for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.
The men’s Olympic hockey tournament is scheduled to run from 11-22 February. Women's event runs from 5-19 February.
