Milan Hockey Arena Setbacks Could Leave NHL Players on Untested Ice
Put aside poor conditions. Currently, there’s no ice.
With NHL players gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympics for the first time in more than a ten years, construction on the main hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.
Local organizers announced on Wednesday that the primary test event for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia facility that was scheduled for December has been moved to a more compact arena – and that no new test event has been scheduled yet.
The issue creates the possibility 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 – one day before the inaugural event.
“The timeline will be very close to the start of the games, the schedule is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier said in a recent update.
The competition that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia ice was part of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been transferred to the Rho Fair hockey location, which is being set up inside a massive convention center on the outskirts of Milan and will host lesser games during the Olympics.
Usually, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the year before to holding podium competitions. And with a sizable hockey venue, it’s not just about the playing surface and ensuring that the playing surface is prepared and safe. It’s also about testing concession stands, bathrooms and everything else inside a brand-new contemporary arena.
The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a commercial firm, is scheduled to become the nation's largest covered stadium. For after the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a possible future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.
Despite the postponements and worries, expensive passes are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia arena. Tickets for the men's championship game on 22 February – the closing day of the Olympics – 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 opening and closing ceremonies are priced higher.
The return of NHL players at the Olympics was announced last February, with the world’s top hockey organization allowing its athletes 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. The women’s event runs from 5-19 February.
