🔗 Share this article

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

With NHL athletes gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympics for the first time in more than a ten years, building work on the primary hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the main trial competition for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia facility originally planned for December has been relocated to a more compact venue – and that no additional trial has been arranged yet.

The issue creates the possibility that there may not be a game held in the primary venue until the competition begins for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – one day before the opening ceremony.

“It’s going to be very close to the beginning of the games, the schedule is very tight. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier stated in a recent update.

The competition that was intended to evaluate the Santagiulia ice 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 established inside a giant exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will stage secondary matches during the Olympics.

Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are tested at least the prior year to holding podium competitions. And with a sizable hockey venue, it’s not only about the ice and making sure that the rink is ready and secure. It’s also about checking food outlets, bathrooms and everything else inside a brand-new modern arena.

This new facility, which is being built by a private company, is slated to become the nation's biggest indoor arena. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a potential upcoming venue of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.

In spite of the delays and concerns, high-priced tickets are already being sold 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 for any other sports event at the Milano Cortina Games. Solely 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 allowing its athletes to compete in the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

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