🔗 Share this article

Put aside poor conditions. For now, the surface isn't ready.

With NHL athletes preparing to return to the Olympics for the first time in over a decade, building work on the primary hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Local organizers announced on Wednesday that the main trial competition for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia arena originally planned for December has been relocated to a smaller arena – and that no new test event has been scheduled yet.

The issue creates the possibility that there may not be a match held in the primary venue until the puck is dropped for the women's initial games at the Olympics on 5 February – one day before the inaugural event.

“The timeline will be very close to the start of the games, the timeline is very tight. However, we were aware,” Milano Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated recently.

The competition that was supposed to test the Santagiulia ice was a segment of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey location, which is being set up inside a giant convention center on the outskirts of Milan and will host secondary matches during the games.

Usually, new Olympic venues are tested at least the prior year to holding podium competitions. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not just about the ice and making sure that the rink is ready and secure. It’s also about testing concession stands, bathrooms and everything else inside a brand-new modern arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a commercial firm, is scheduled to become Italy’s largest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a possible future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis event.

In spite of the postponements and worries, expensive tickets are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia arena. Tickets for the men’s gold medal game on 22 February – the closing day of the games – are going for as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). This exceeds for any other athletic competition at the Milan-Cortina Games. Solely passes for the opening and closing ceremonies are priced higher.

The comeback of NHL players at the Olympics was announced last February, with the premier hockey league allowing its athletes to compete in the Winter Games for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

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