🔗 Share this article

Put aside thin ice. Currently, there’s no ice.

With NHL athletes gearing up to return to the Olympics for the initial occasion in over a decade, building work on the main hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the main test event for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia arena originally planned for December has been moved to a more compact venue – and that no additional trial has been scheduled yet.

The issue raises the prospect that there may not be a game held in the primary venue until the puck is dropped for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – one day before the inaugural event.

“The timeline will be very close to the beginning of the Olympics, the timeline is very tight. But we knew that,” Milano Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated in a recent update.

The competition that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia playing surface was a segment of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey venue, which is being set up inside a giant exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will host lesser games during the Olympics.

Usually, new Olympic venues are tested at least the year before to hosting medal events. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not just about the ice and making sure that the playing surface is ready and safe. It’s also about testing food outlets, bathrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed contemporary stadium.

This new facility, which is being constructed by a private company, is slated to become Italy’s largest indoor arena. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a possible future host of the ATP Finals tennis tournament.

In spite of the delays and worries, high-priced tickets are already being sold for events at the Santagiulia venue. Tickets for the men’s gold medal final on 22 February – the final day of the games – are priced at as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). That’s more than for any other sports event at the Milan-Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies are priced higher.

The return of NHL stars at the Olympics was revealed in February of last year, with the world’s top hockey league allowing its athletes to participate in the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

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