Milan Ice Hockey Arena Delays May Force NHL Players on Unproven Ice

Forget about poor conditions. Currently, the surface isn't ready.

With NHL athletes gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in over a ten years, building work on the primary hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Local organizers confirmed on Wednesday that the main test event for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia facility that was scheduled for December has been relocated to a more compact venue – and that no new test event has been arranged yet.

This situation creates the possibility that there may not be a match held in the primary venue until the competition begins for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – one day before the inaugural event.

“The timeline will be very close to the start of the games, the schedule is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milano Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said in a recent update.

The event that was supposed to test the Santagiulia playing surface was a segment 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 massive exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts and will host secondary matches during the games.

Typically, new Olympic venues are tested at least the year before to holding medal events. And with a sizable hockey venue, it’s not just about the playing surface and ensuring that the rink is prepared and secure. It’s also about testing food outlets, restrooms and everything else inside a newly constructed contemporary arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being built by a private company, is slated to become the nation's largest indoor arena. Following the Olympics, it’s being considered as a possible upcoming venue of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.

In spite of the postponements and worries, high-priced passes are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia arena. Seats for the men's championship 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 athletic competition at the Milan-Cortina Games. Solely passes for the opening and closing ceremonies are priced higher.

The return of NHL stars at the Olympics was announced in February of last year, with the world’s top hockey organization permitting its players to participate in the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

Men's Olympic hockey tournament is set to run from 11-22 February. Women's tournament runs from 5-19 February.