🔗 Share this article

Forget about thin ice. For now, there’s no ice.

As NHL athletes preparing to return to the Olympic Games for the first time in over a decade, construction on the main hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Officials confirmed on Wednesday that the primary test event for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia arena originally planned for December has been relocated to a more compact arena – and that no additional trial has been arranged yet.

This situation raises the prospect that there might not be a match held in the main arena until the competition begins 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 start of the Olympics, the schedule is very tight. But we knew that,” Milano Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier said in a recent update.

The event that was supposed to test the Santagiulia playing surface was part of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey venue, which is being set up inside a massive convention center on the outskirts of Milan and will stage lesser games during the Olympics.

Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the prior year to holding medal events. And with a sizable hockey venue, it’s not only about the playing surface and making sure that the rink is prepared and secure. It’s also about checking concession stands, bathrooms and all other amenities inside a brand-new contemporary stadium.

This new facility, which is being built by a private company, is slated to become the nation's largest indoor arena. For after the Olympics, it’s being considered as a possible upcoming venue of the ATP Finals tennis event.

Despite the postponements and worries, expensive tickets are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia arena. Seats for the men's championship game on 22 February – the final day of the games – are going for as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). This exceeds for any other sports event at the Milan-Cortina Games. Only passes for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

The return of NHL stars at the Olympics was announced last February, with the premier hockey organization permitting its players to participate in the Winter Games for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

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