The NHL says it is “disappointing” that the main ice hockey venue for the Winter Olympics will not be ready until the new year – and warned that its top players will not show up unless the ice is shown to be safe.
The men’s and women’s tournaments are expected to be among the highlights of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Games with the NHL stars showing up for the first time since 2014.
However, the buildup continues to be marred by construction delays and questions over why the rink at the Santagiulia Arena in Milan is smaller and wider than in the NHL, as well as concerns over the quality of the ice. And while the International Olympic Committee insisted on Tuesday that everything would be ready on time, the NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman, made it clear he was not entirely happy.
“The fact that the building at this point still isn’t completed is – and I won’t use any other adjectives – disappointing,” Bettman said.
Meanwhile the NHL deputy commissioner, Bill Daly, warned organisers that the 14,700-seat arena had to be able to withstand three games in a day otherwise the players would not show up. “If the ice isn’t ready and it’s not safe, then we’re not going,” Daly said. “I mean, I think that’s pretty self-evident.”
Construction delays have meant that there will be no ice in the arena before the new year – with the test event now being pushed back to 9-11 January. The IOC president, Kirsty Coventry, insisted that despite the hiccups, it would be a case of all right on the night.
“We need to push through and continue until the very last moment,” she said. “But we’re very impressed, very happy with everything that we’re seeing and hearing. As we get close, we just need to keep our finger on the pulse in terms of the ice hockey rink.
The IOC sports director, Pierre Ducrey, also insisted that concerns around the small rink size had now been “successfully resolved” with the NHL and its players. “So we are very happy with where we stand at present,” he said.
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Elsewhere the IOC made light of sluggish ticket sales, saying that 70% of the tickets for the Games had now been sold.
