Milano Ice Hockey Venue Setbacks Could Leave NHL Players on Unproven Playing Surface
Forget about poor conditions. For now, there’s no ice.
As NHL athletes gearing up to return to the Olympics for the initial occasion in more than a ten years, building work on the primary hockey venue for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.
Officials announced on Wednesday that the primary trial competition for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia arena that was scheduled for December has been relocated to a more compact venue – and that no new test event has been scheduled yet.
The issue creates the possibility that there might not be a game held in the main arena until the puck is dropped for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – one day before the inaugural event.
“It’s going to be very close to the start of the games, the timeline is very tight. But we knew that,” Milano Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier stated in a recent update.
The event that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia playing surface was part of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been transferred to the Rho Fair hockey venue, which is being set up inside a giant exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts and will host lesser games during the Olympics.
Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the year before to hosting medal events. And with a sizable hockey arena, it’s not only about the playing surface and ensuring that the playing surface is ready and safe. It’s additionally about testing food outlets, restrooms and everything else inside a newly constructed contemporary 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 considered as a possible upcoming venue of the ATP Finals tennis tournament.
Despite the delays and concerns, high-priced tickets are already being purchased for matches at the Santagiulia venue. Seats for the men’s gold medal final on 22 February – the final day of the games – are going for as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). This exceeds for any other athletic competition at the Milan-Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies cost more.
The return of NHL players at the Olympics was announced in February of last year, with the world’s top hockey league permitting its athletes to participate in the Winter Games for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.
The men’s Olympic hockey competition is set to take place from 11-22 February. The women’s event occurs from 5-19 February.
