Milan Ice Hockey Arena Delays May Leave NHL Stars on Unproven Playing Surface
Forget about thin ice. For now, the surface isn't ready.
As NHL athletes gearing up to return to the Olympics for the first time in over a ten years, building work on the main hockey venue for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.
Local organizers announced on Wednesday that the primary test event for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia facility that was scheduled for December has been moved to a smaller arena – and that no new test event has been arranged yet.
This situation raises the prospect that there might not be a match held in the main arena until the puck is dropped for the women's initial games at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the opening ceremony.
“It’s going to be extremely tight to the start of the games, the timeline is very tight. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated in a recent update.
The competition that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia playing surface was a segment of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been transferred to the Rho Fiera hockey location, which is being set up inside a giant exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts and will stage secondary matches during the Olympics.
Typically, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the year before to hosting podium competitions. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not just about the ice and making sure that the playing surface is prepared and safe. It’s additionally about testing food outlets, bathrooms and everything else inside a brand-new contemporary arena.
This new facility, which is being built by a commercial firm, is slated to become Italy’s biggest 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 concerns, high-priced tickets are already being purchased for events at the Santagiulia venue. Tickets for the men's championship game on 22 February – the closing day of the games – are priced at as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). That’s more than for any other sports event at the Milano Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies cost more.
The return of NHL stars at the Olympics was announced last February, with the world’s top hockey league permitting its players to compete in the Winter Games for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.
Men's Olympic hockey tournament is set to take place from 11-22 February. Women's event occurs from 5-19 February.