Forget about thin ice. For now, there’s no ice.
With NHL players gearing up to return to the Olympics for the initial occasion in over a decade, building work on the main hockey venue for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.
Officials confirmed on Wednesday that the main trial competition for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia facility originally planned for December has been moved to a more compact venue – and that no new test event has been scheduled yet.
This situation raises the prospect that there may not be a game held in the main arena until the competition begins for the women's initial games at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the opening ceremony.
“The timeline will be extremely tight to the beginning of the Olympics, the timeline is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said in a recent update.
The event that was supposed to test the Santagiulia ice was a segment of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved to the Rho Fair hockey venue, which is being established inside a giant convention center on the outskirts of Milan and will host secondary matches during the games.
Usually, freshly built Olympic facilities are tested at least the year before to hosting podium competitions. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not only about the playing surface and making sure that the rink is ready and safe. It’s additionally about testing food outlets, restrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed contemporary arena.
This new facility, which is being built by a commercial firm, is scheduled to become Italy’s biggest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a possible future host of the ATP Finals tennis event.
In spite of the postponements and worries, high-priced passes are already being purchased for matches at the Santagiulia venue. Seats for the men’s gold medal game on 22 February – the closing day of the games – are priced at as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). That’s more than for any other athletic competition at the Milan-Cortina Games. Only passes for the inaugural and final events cost more.
The comeback of NHL stars at the Olympics was revealed last February, with the premier hockey organization permitting its players to participate in the Winter Games for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.
Men's Olympic hockey competition is set to take place from 11-22 February. The women’s tournament runs from 5-19 February.
