Milan Ice Hockey Arena Delays Could Leave NHL Players on Unproven Ice
Put aside thin ice. Currently, the surface isn't ready.
With NHL athletes gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympics for the first time in more than a ten years, building work on the primary hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is cutting it close.
Local organizers confirmed on Wednesday that the primary test event for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia facility that was scheduled for December has been relocated to a smaller venue – and that no new test event has been scheduled yet.
The issue creates the possibility 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 inaugural event.
“The timeline will be extremely tight to the start of the Olympics, the timeline is very tight. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.
The event that was intended to test the Santagiulia ice was a segment of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey venue, which is being set up inside a giant exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will host secondary matches during the Olympics.
Typically, new Olympic venues are tested at least the year before to holding medal events. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not only about the ice and making sure that the rink is prepared and secure. It’s also about testing food outlets, bathrooms and all other amenities inside a brand-new modern stadium.
This new facility, which is being built by a commercial firm, is scheduled to become Italy’s largest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being considered as a possible future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.
In spite of the delays and worries, expensive passes are already being sold for events at the Santagiulia arena. Tickets for the men's championship final on 22 February – the closing day of the Olympics – are going for as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). That’s more than the price of any other sports event at the Milan-Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies are priced higher.
The comeback of NHL stars at the Olympics was announced in February of last year, with the premier hockey league permitting its athletes to compete in the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.
Men's Olympic hockey competition is scheduled to run from 11-22 February. Women's event runs from 5-19 February.
