Milan Ice Hockey Venue Setbacks May Force NHL Stars on Untested Playing Surface
Put aside thin ice. For now, there’s no ice.
As NHL players gearing up to return to the Olympic Games for the first time in more than a decade, building work on the main hockey venue for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.
Officials announced on Wednesday that the main trial competition for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia facility originally planned for December has been moved to a more compact arena – and that no new test event has been arranged yet.
The issue raises the prospect that there may not be a game held in the main arena until the puck is dropped for the women's initial games at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the inaugural event.
“The timeline will be very close to the start of the Olympics, the timeline is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milano Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated recently.
The competition that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia ice was part of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey location, which is being set up inside a giant exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts and will host lesser games during the games.
Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the year before to holding podium competitions. And with a sizable hockey arena, it’s not only about the ice and ensuring that the rink is prepared and secure. It’s additionally about checking food outlets, bathrooms and all other amenities inside a brand-new contemporary stadium.
This new facility, which is being constructed by a commercial firm, is slated to become the nation's largest covered stadium. For after the Olympics, it’s being considered as a possible future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.
In spite of the delays and concerns, high-priced passes are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia venue. 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). That’s more than for any other sports event at the Milan-Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies cost more.
The comeback of NHL players at the Olympics was announced last February, with the world’s top hockey organization permitting its athletes to participate in the Winter Games for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.
Men's Olympic hockey competition is set to run from 11-22 February. The women’s tournament occurs from 5-19 February.
