🔗 Share this article

Forget about thin ice. For now, there’s no ice.

As NHL athletes gearing up to return to the Olympics for the first time in over a decade, construction on the main hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the main trial competition for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia arena originally planned for December has been moved to a more compact venue – and that no additional trial has been scheduled yet.

The issue raises the prospect that there might not be a match held in the primary venue until the puck is dropped for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – one day before the opening ceremony.

“It’s going to be very close to the start of the games, the schedule is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier stated recently.

The event that was intended to test the Santagiulia playing surface was a segment of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been transferred to the Rho Fair hockey location, which is being set up inside a massive convention center on Milan’s outskirts and will stage secondary matches during the Olympics.

Usually, new Olympic venues are tested at least the prior year to holding medal events. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not just about the playing surface and making sure that the playing surface is ready and safe. It’s additionally about checking concession stands, bathrooms and all other amenities inside a brand-new contemporary arena.

This new facility, which is being constructed by a commercial firm, is scheduled to become Italy’s biggest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being considered as a potential future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.

In spite of the postponements and worries, high-priced tickets are already being sold for events at the Santagiulia arena. Tickets for the men's championship final on 22 February – the closing day of the Olympics – are going for as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). That’s more than the price of any other sports event at the Milano Cortina Games. Solely passes for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

The return of NHL players at the Olympics was announced last February, with the premier hockey organization allowing its athletes to participate in the Winter Games for the initial occasion 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.