Milano Ice Hockey Arena Setbacks Could Leave NHL Players on Untested Ice

Forget about thin ice. For now, the surface isn't ready.

With NHL players gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in more than a ten years, building work on the primary hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Officials confirmed on Wednesday that the primary trial competition for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia arena originally planned for December has been relocated to a more compact arena – and that no additional trial has been arranged yet.

This situation creates the possibility that there may not be a match held in the primary venue until the competition begins for the women's initial games at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the inaugural event.

“The timeline will be extremely tight to the start of the Olympics, the schedule is very tight. But we knew that,” Milano Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier said in a recent update.

The competition that was intended to test the Santagiulia playing surface was part of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been transferred to the Rho Fiera hockey location, which is being established inside a massive exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts and will stage secondary matches during the Olympics.

Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the year before to hosting medal events. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not only about the ice and making sure that the rink is ready and safe. It’s also about checking food outlets, restrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed modern stadium.

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

Despite the delays and worries, high-priced passes are already being purchased for events at the Santagiulia arena. Tickets for the men's championship final on 22 February – the final day of the Olympics – are priced at as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). This exceeds the price of any other athletic competition at the Milano Cortina Games. Only tickets for the inaugural and final events cost more.

The comeback of NHL players at the Olympics was revealed last February, with the world’s top hockey organization allowing its athletes 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 tournament occurs from 5-19 February.