Milan Ice Hockey Venue Setbacks Could Leave NHL Players on Untested Playing Surface
Put aside poor conditions. Currently, there’s no ice.
As NHL players gearing up to return to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in more than a ten years, building work on the primary hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games is cutting it close.
Local organizers 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 arena – 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 primary venue until the competition begins for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the inaugural event.
“The timeline will be very close to the beginning of the games, the timeline is very tight. However, we were aware,” Milan-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 U20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fair hockey location, which is being set up inside a giant exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts 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 large hockey arena, it’s not only about the ice and ensuring that the rink is ready and secure. It’s additionally about checking concession stands, bathrooms and all other amenities inside a brand-new modern arena.
The Santagiulia venue, which is being built by a private company, is slated to become the nation's biggest covered stadium. For after the Olympics, it’s being considered as a potential upcoming venue of the ATP Finals tennis event.
Despite the postponements and worries, high-priced tickets are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia arena. Seats for the men’s gold medal game on 22 February – the final day of the Olympics – are priced at 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 comeback of NHL stars at the Olympics was revealed in February of last year, with the premier hockey league permitting its athletes to participate in the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.
The men’s Olympic hockey competition is set to take place from 11-22 February. Women's event runs from 5-19 February.
