Milan Hockey Venue Delays Could Leave NHL Stars on Unproven Playing Surface
Put aside poor conditions. Currently, there’s no ice.
As NHL players gearing up to return to the Olympics for the initial occasion in more than a decade, construction on the primary hockey venue for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.
Officials announced on Wednesday that the primary test event for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia arena that was scheduled for December has been moved to a smaller venue – 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 primary venue until the competition begins 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 schedule is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.
The event that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia ice was part of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fair hockey location, which is being set up inside a massive exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will host secondary matches during the games.
Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are tested at least the year before to hosting medal events. And with a sizable hockey venue, it’s not just about the ice and making sure that the playing surface is prepared and safe. It’s additionally about checking concession stands, restrooms and everything else inside a newly constructed modern arena.
The Santagiulia venue, which is being built by a private company, is scheduled to become Italy’s biggest indoor arena. For after the Olympics, it’s being considered as a possible upcoming venue of the ATP Finals tennis tournament.
In spite of the postponements and concerns, high-priced tickets are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia venue. Seats for the men’s gold medal game on 22 February – the final day of the games – 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. Only tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies cost more.
The comeback of NHL players at the Olympics was revealed in February of last year, with the premier hockey league permitting its athletes to participate in the Winter Games for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.
Men's Olympic hockey competition is scheduled to take place from 11-22 February. Women's tournament runs from 5-19 February.