Milan Hockey Arena Delays Could Force NHL Players on Untested Playing Surface
Put aside poor conditions. For now, there’s no ice.
With NHL athletes gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in over a decade, construction on the primary hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is cutting it close.
Officials confirmed on Wednesday that the main trial competition for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia arena originally planned for December has been relocated to a smaller venue – and that no new test event has been arranged yet.
This situation creates the possibility that there may not be a game 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 opening ceremony.
“The timeline will be extremely tight to the beginning of the games, the timeline is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milano Cortina local organizing committee 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 moved to the Rho Fair hockey location, which is being set up inside a giant exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will stage lesser games during the games.
Typically, new Olympic venues are tested at least the year before to hosting medal events. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not just about the ice and ensuring that the rink is ready and safe. It’s additionally about checking food outlets, bathrooms and everything else inside a brand-new contemporary stadium.
The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a commercial firm, is scheduled to become Italy’s biggest indoor arena. Following the Olympics, it’s being considered as a possible future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis event.
Despite the delays and worries, expensive passes are already being sold for events at the Santagiulia venue. Seats for the men’s gold medal 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. Only passes for the opening and closing ceremonies are priced higher.
The return of NHL players at the Olympics was announced in February of last year, with the world’s top hockey organization permitting its players to compete in the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.
The men’s Olympic hockey tournament is scheduled to take place from 11-22 February. Women's tournament runs from 5-19 February.
