🔗 Share this article

Put aside thin ice. Currently, the surface isn't ready.

As NHL players gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the first time in over a ten years, construction on the primary hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Local organizers confirmed on Wednesday that the primary test event for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia facility originally planned for December has been moved to a smaller arena – and that no additional trial has been arranged yet.

This situation raises the prospect that there may not be a match 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 opening ceremony.

“The timeline will be very close to the beginning of the Olympics, the timeline is very tight. But we knew that,” Milano Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier stated recently.

The event that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia playing surface was a segment 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 massive exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts and will host secondary matches during the games.

Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are tested at least the prior year to holding 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 safe. It’s additionally about testing concession stands, bathrooms and everything else inside a brand-new modern stadium.

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

Despite the postponements and concerns, high-priced passes are already being purchased for events at the Santagiulia arena. Tickets for the men's championship final on 22 February – the final day of the games – are going for as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). This exceeds the price of any other sports event at the Milan-Cortina Games. Only passes for the opening and closing ceremonies cost more.

The comeback of NHL players at the Olympics was announced in February of last year, with the world’s top hockey organization permitting its players to compete in the Winter Games for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

Men's Olympic hockey tournament is set to run from 11-22 February. Women's event runs from 5-19 February.