Milano Ice Hockey Venue Setbacks Could Leave NHL Players on Untested Ice
Forget about poor conditions. Currently, there’s no ice.
As NHL players preparing to return to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in over a ten years, building work on the primary hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games is cutting it close.
Local organizers confirmed on Wednesday that the main test event for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia facility originally planned for December has been relocated to a more compact arena – and that no new test event has been scheduled yet.
The issue raises the prospect that there might not be a match held in the main arena until the competition begins for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – one day before the inaugural event.
“The timeline will be extremely tight to the start of the games, the timeline is very tight. But we knew that,” Milano Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.
The event 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 moved to the Rho Fair hockey venue, which is being set up inside a giant exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will stage secondary matches during the Olympics.
Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are tested at least the year before to holding medal events. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not just about the ice and ensuring that the playing surface is ready and secure. It’s additionally about testing food outlets, restrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed modern arena.
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 considered as a possible upcoming venue of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.
Despite the delays and worries, expensive tickets are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia venue. 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). That’s more than for any other sports event at the Milan-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 league allowing its athletes to participate in the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.
The men’s Olympic hockey tournament is set to run from 11-22 February. Women's tournament occurs from 5-19 February.
