Milan Hockey Venue Setbacks Could Force NHL Players on Unproven Ice

Put aside poor conditions. Currently, the surface isn't ready.

With NHL players gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the first time in more than 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 main trial competition for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia facility originally planned for December has been relocated to a more compact arena – and that no new test event has been arranged yet.

This situation raises the prospect that there may not be a match held in the primary venue 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 games, the timeline is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.

The competition that was intended to evaluate the Santagiulia playing surface was part of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been transferred to the Rho Fair hockey location, which is being set up inside a massive exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts and will host secondary matches during the games.

Usually, new Olympic venues are tested at least the year before to holding podium competitions. And with a sizable hockey venue, it’s not just about the ice and making sure that the playing surface is ready and safe. It’s additionally about checking concession stands, restrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed modern arena.

This new facility, which is being built by a private company, is slated to become the nation's largest covered stadium. For after the Olympics, it’s being considered as a potential future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.

Despite the delays and worries, high-priced tickets are already being purchased for events at the Santagiulia venue. Seats for the men’s gold medal game on 22 February – the closing 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 comeback of NHL stars at the Olympics was revealed last February, with the premier hockey league permitting its athletes to participate in the Winter Games for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

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