🔗 Share this article

Put aside poor conditions. For now, there’s no ice.

With NHL athletes preparing to return to the Olympics for the first time in over a ten years, construction on the main hockey venue for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Local organizers announced on Wednesday that the primary test event for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia arena that was scheduled for December has been moved to a more compact venue – and that no new test event has been arranged yet.

This situation raises the prospect that there may not be a match 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 inaugural event.

“It’s going to be very close to the start of the Olympics, the timeline is very tight. But we knew that,” Milano Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated recently.

The competition that was supposed to test the Santagiulia playing surface was a segment of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fair hockey venue, which is being established inside a giant exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will host secondary matches during the Olympics.

Usually, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the year before to hosting podium competitions. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not only about the playing surface and ensuring that the playing surface is prepared and secure. It’s also about checking food outlets, restrooms and everything else inside a brand-new modern arena.

This new facility, which is being built by a commercial firm, is slated to become the nation'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 worries, high-priced passes 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 priced at as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). This exceeds the price of any other athletic competition at the Milano Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies are priced higher.

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

The men’s Olympic hockey tournament is set to run from 11-22 February. Women's tournament runs from 5-19 February.