Milan Ice Hockey Venue Delays Could Leave NHL Players on Unproven Ice
Forget about thin ice. Currently, there’s no ice.
With NHL athletes gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympics for the first time in over a decade, building work on the main hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.
Local organizers confirmed on Wednesday that the primary test event 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 scheduled yet.
The issue creates the possibility that there might not be a match held in the main arena until the puck is dropped for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – one day before the inaugural event.
“It’s going to be extremely tight to the start of the games, the timeline is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milano Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier said in a recent update.
The competition that was intended to test the Santagiulia ice was part of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been transferred to the Rho Fiera hockey location, which is being established inside a giant exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will host secondary matches during the games.
Usually, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the year before to holding medal events. And with a sizable hockey arena, it’s not just about the ice and making sure that the rink is prepared and safe. It’s also about testing food outlets, restrooms and all other amenities inside a brand-new contemporary arena.
This new facility, which is being built by a private company, is scheduled to become Italy’s largest covered stadium. For after the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a possible future host of the ATP Finals tennis tournament.
In spite of the delays and worries, high-priced tickets are already being sold for events at the Santagiulia arena. Seats for the men's championship final on 22 February – the final day of the games – are going for as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). This exceeds for any other sports event at the Milano Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the inaugural and final events cost more.
The return of NHL players at the Olympics was announced in February of last year, with the premier hockey organization permitting its athletes to participate in the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.
Men's Olympic hockey tournament is scheduled to take place from 11-22 February. The women’s event occurs from 5-19 February.
