Milano Hockey Arena Setbacks Could Leave NHL Players on Untested Ice
Put aside poor conditions. For now, there’s no ice.
As NHL athletes gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympics for the first time in over a ten years, construction 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 arena originally planned for December has been relocated to a smaller venue – and that no new test event has been arranged yet.
This situation creates the possibility 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 – one day before the opening ceremony.
“The timeline will be extremely tight to the beginning of the games, the schedule is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milano Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated recently.
The event that was intended to evaluate the Santagiulia playing surface was part of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey venue, which is being set up inside a giant convention center on Milan’s outskirts and will stage lesser games during the games.
Usually, new Olympic venues are tested at least the prior year to holding podium competitions. And with a sizable hockey arena, it’s not only about the playing surface and making sure that the rink is ready and safe. It’s additionally about testing food outlets, bathrooms and everything else inside a newly constructed modern stadium.
This new facility, which is being constructed by a private company, is slated to become Italy’s biggest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a possible future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis event.
In spite of the delays and concerns, expensive passes are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia venue. Tickets for the men’s gold medal final on 22 February – the final day of the games – are priced at as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). This exceeds the price of any other athletic competition at the Milan-Cortina Games. Only tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies cost more.
The comeback of NHL stars at the Olympics was announced in February of last year, with the world’s top hockey league permitting its players to compete in the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.
The men’s Olympic hockey competition is set to run from 11-22 February. Women's event runs from 5-19 February.
