Milan Hockey Venue Setbacks May Force NHL Stars on Unproven Ice

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

As NHL athletes preparing to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in over a decade, building work on the main hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

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

This situation creates the possibility that there might 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 – 24 hours before the opening ceremony.

“The timeline will be very close to the start of the games, the timeline is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milano Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier stated in a recent update.

The competition 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 transferred to the Rho Fair hockey venue, which is being set up inside a giant exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts and will host lesser games during the games.

Usually, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the prior year to hosting podium competitions. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not just about the playing surface and ensuring that the rink is ready and secure. It’s also about checking food outlets, restrooms and everything else inside a brand-new modern arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a private company, is scheduled to become the nation's largest covered stadium. For after the Olympics, it’s being considered as a possible future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis event.

In spite of the postponements and concerns, high-priced passes are already being purchased for matches at the Santagiulia arena. Tickets for the men’s gold medal final on 22 February – the final day of the games – are going for as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). This exceeds the price of any other sports event at the Milano Cortina Games. Only passes for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

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

Men's Olympic hockey competition is scheduled to take place from 11-22 February. Women's event occurs from 5-19 February.