Forget about poor conditions. For now, the surface isn't ready.
With NHL athletes preparing to return to the Olympics for the initial occasion in more than a ten years, construction on the primary hockey venue 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 relocated to a smaller venue – and that no new test event has been scheduled 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 games, the timeline is very tight. However, we were aware,” 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 part of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been transferred to the Rho Fiera hockey location, which is being set up inside a massive convention center on the outskirts of Milan and will host secondary matches during the games.
Usually, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the year before to hosting podium competitions. And with a sizable hockey arena, it’s not only about the playing surface and ensuring that the playing surface is ready and secure. It’s also about testing concession stands, bathrooms 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 biggest covered stadium. For after the Olympics, it’s being considered as a possible upcoming venue of the ATP Finals tennis event.
In spite of the postponements and worries, expensive tickets are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia arena. Seats for the men’s gold medal final on 22 February – the closing day of the Olympics – are priced at as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). That’s more than for any other sports event at the Milano Cortina Games. Only passes for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.
The comeback of NHL stars at the Olympics was announced last February, with the world’s top hockey organization permitting its players to participate 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 tournament occurs from 5-19 February.
