🔗 Share this article

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

As NHL athletes preparing to make a comeback to the Olympics for the initial occasion in more than a ten years, construction on the primary hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Local organizers confirmed on Wednesday that the primary trial competition for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia arena that was scheduled for December has been moved to a smaller arena – and that no new test event has been scheduled yet.

The issue creates the possibility that there might 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 – 24 hours before the inaugural event.

“It’s going to be extremely tight to the beginning of the Olympics, the timeline is very tight. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated in a recent update.

The competition that was intended to evaluate the Santagiulia playing surface was a segment of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey location, which is being established inside a giant convention center on Milan’s outskirts and will stage secondary matches during the games.

Typically, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the year before to holding medal events. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not just about the playing surface and ensuring that the playing surface is ready and safe. It’s additionally about checking concession stands, restrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed modern stadium.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a private company, is scheduled to become Italy’s largest indoor arena. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a possible upcoming venue of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.

In spite of the delays and worries, high-priced passes are already being purchased for matches at the Santagiulia arena. Seats for the men's championship final on 22 February – the final day of the Olympics – are going for as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). This exceeds for any other sports event at the Milan-Cortina Games. Solely passes for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

The comeback of NHL players at the Olympics was revealed in February of last year, with the world’s top hockey organization permitting its athletes to compete in the Winter Games for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

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