🔗 Share this article

Put aside thin ice. Currently, 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, construction on the main hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the primary test event for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia arena originally planned for December has been relocated to a smaller arena – and that no additional trial has been arranged yet.

The issue creates the possibility that there may 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 – 24 hours before the opening ceremony.

“The timeline will be extremely tight to the beginning of the games, the schedule is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated recently.

The event that was supposed to test the Santagiulia playing surface was part of the under-20 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 Olympics.

Usually, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the year before to hosting medal events. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not just about the ice and making sure that the playing surface is ready and secure. It’s also about testing concession stands, restrooms and all other amenities inside a brand-new modern stadium.

This new facility, which is being constructed by a private company, is scheduled to become Italy’s largest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a potential upcoming venue of the ATP Finals tennis tournament.

Despite the postponements and concerns, expensive tickets are already being purchased for matches at the Santagiulia arena. 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). That’s more than the price of any other sports event at the Milan-Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies are priced higher.

The return of NHL players at the Olympics was announced in February of last year, with the premier hockey organization allowing its athletes to compete in the Winter Olympics for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

The men’s Olympic hockey tournament is scheduled to take place from 11-22 February. The women’s event occurs from 5-19 February.