Milano Hockey Venue Delays May Leave NHL Players on Untested Playing Surface

Put aside thin ice. Currently, the surface isn't ready.

With NHL players gearing up to return to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in over a decade, building work on the main hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the primary trial competition for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia facility that was scheduled for December has been relocated to a more compact arena – and that no new test event has been scheduled yet.

This situation creates the possibility that there may not be a game 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 beginning of the games, the timeline is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.

The competition that was intended to test the Santagiulia ice was part of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fair hockey location, which is being set up inside a massive exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will host secondary matches during the Olympics.

Typically, new Olympic venues are tested 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 testing concession stands, restrooms and everything else inside a brand-new modern arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being built by a private company, is scheduled to become Italy’s largest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being considered as a possible future host of the ATP Finals tennis tournament.

Despite the postponements and worries, expensive passes are already being sold for events at the Santagiulia venue. Tickets for the men’s gold medal final on 22 February – the final day of the Olympics – are going for as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). This exceeds the price of any other athletic competition at the Milano Cortina Games. Solely passes for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

The comeback of NHL players at the Olympics was revealed last February, with the premier hockey league allowing its players to participate in the Winter Olympics for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

The men’s Olympic hockey competition is set to take place from 11-22 February. Women's tournament runs from 5-19 February.