Milan Hockey Arena Delays Could Leave NHL Players on Untested Playing Surface

Put aside poor conditions. For now, there’s no ice.

With NHL players preparing to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the first time in over a ten years, construction on the main hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the main test event for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia arena that was scheduled for December has been moved to a more compact arena – and that no new test event has been arranged yet.

The issue raises the prospect that there may not be a game held in the primary venue until the competition begins for the women's initial games at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the opening ceremony.

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

The event that was supposed to test the Santagiulia ice was a segment of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey venue, which is being set up inside a giant convention center on the outskirts of Milan and will stage secondary matches during the Olympics.

Usually, freshly built Olympic facilities are tested at least the prior year to holding podium competitions. And with a sizable hockey arena, it’s not just about the playing surface and ensuring that the playing surface is ready and safe. It’s also about checking concession stands, bathrooms and all other amenities inside a brand-new contemporary stadium.

This new facility, which is being constructed by a commercial firm, is slated to become Italy’s largest indoor arena. For after the Olympics, it’s being considered as a potential upcoming venue of the ATP Finals tennis tournament.

In spite of the postponements and concerns, expensive tickets are already being sold for events at the Santagiulia venue. Tickets 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 sports event at the Milan-Cortina Games. Only tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies are priced higher.

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

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