Milano Hockey Venue Delays Could Leave NHL Players on Untested Ice
Put aside thin ice. For now, the surface isn't ready.
As NHL athletes preparing to make a comeback to the Olympics for the first time in over a ten years, building work on the primary hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.
Local organizers confirmed on Wednesday that the primary trial competition for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia arena originally planned for December has been moved to a smaller arena – and that no new test event has been scheduled yet.
This situation raises the prospect that there might 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 – one day before the opening ceremony.
“The timeline will be very close to the beginning of the Olympics, the schedule is very tight. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier said in a recent update.
The event that was supposed to test the Santagiulia playing surface was part of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey location, which is being established inside a massive exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will stage lesser games during the Olympics.
Typically, new Olympic venues are tested at least the prior year to hosting podium competitions. And with a sizable hockey arena, it’s not only about the ice and making sure that the playing surface is prepared and secure. It’s also about testing food outlets, restrooms and everything else inside a brand-new modern stadium.
The Santagiulia venue, which is being built by a private company, is slated to become the nation's largest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a potential future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.
Despite the postponements and concerns, expensive passes are already being purchased for events at the Santagiulia arena. Tickets for the men's championship game on 22 February – the final day of the Olympics – are priced at as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). That’s more than the price of any other athletic competition at the Milano Cortina Games. Solely passes for the inaugural and final events cost more.
The comeback of NHL players at the Olympics was revealed last February, with the premier hockey organization permitting its players to compete in the Winter Olympics for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.
Men's Olympic hockey competition is set to take place from 11-22 February. Women's event runs from 5-19 February.
