Milano Hockey Venue Setbacks May Force NHL Players on Unproven Ice

Put aside poor conditions. For now, there’s no ice.

With NHL players gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympics for the first time in more than a ten years, building work on the main hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Officials confirmed on Wednesday that the main test event for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia facility that was scheduled for December has been relocated to a smaller arena – and that no new test event has been arranged yet.

The issue raises the prospect 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 inaugural event.

“It’s going to be extremely tight to the beginning of the games, the timeline is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.

The competition that was intended to evaluate the Santagiulia playing surface was a segment of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved to the Rho Fair hockey location, which is being established inside a massive exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will stage secondary matches during the games.

Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are tested at least the prior year to holding podium competitions. And with a sizable hockey arena, it’s not just about the ice and making sure that the playing surface is prepared and safe. It’s also about testing concession stands, restrooms and everything else inside a newly constructed modern stadium.

This new facility, which is being constructed by a private company, is slated to become the nation's largest indoor arena. For after the Olympics, it’s being considered as a possible future host of the ATP Finals tennis event.

In spite of the delays and worries, high-priced tickets are already being purchased for events 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 (over $1,600). This exceeds the price of any other sports event at the Milano Cortina Games. Only tickets for the inaugural and final events cost more.

The return of NHL stars at the Olympics was announced in February of last year, with the world’s top hockey organization permitting its athletes to participate in the Winter Olympics for the initial occasion 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.