Olympic Hockey Rink Test Event Showcases Ongoing Issues

There was already plenty of worry about the forthcoming venue in Milan for the ice hockey competition at the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics. A test event did little to ease that concern. 

A game with Italian pro players Friday night at Santagiulia Arena in Milan, still very much under construction, involved soft ice that was well below NHL-level standards, and there was a brief, first-period delay to address a large hole that formed in front of one of the goals. 

More broadly, the facility still has large swaths of work undone with less than four weeks before the Feb. 5 start of the women’s ice hockey competition. Among the incomplete portions of the arena project:

• Dressing rooms and a practice rink are in a temporary structure next to the arena.
• The main scoreboard has yet to be installed.
• Concessions for the initial game were sold at exterior food trucks while the permanent, in-arena facilities are built out.
• Arena capacity for hockey will come in at 11,800, less than the 14,000 figure originally planned, as some seating sections were not completed.

Despite the ongoing issues, cautious optimism still surrounds the upcoming Olympic hockey tournament, which will feature NHL players for the first time in 12 years. That NHL participation is expected to remain in place.

“100%, 100%,” Milan-Cortina chief games operations officer Andrea Francisi said when asked how confident he was of the NHL’s continued participation. 

That hopeful sentiment echoed prior comments from organizations such as Hockey Canada and the NHL. Several national organizations, including the Canadians, toured the arena Friday.

“I am very confident [NHL players] will be here and it’s going to be extremely exciting,” said IOC sports director Pierre Ducrey. “We’re very excited they’re coming back; 12 years, there was a lot of work from a lot of people to make sure this happens.

“So, yeah, you will have NHL players here in February, and it’s going to be amazing,” Ducrey said.

Officials from the 2026 Milan-Cortina Games have repeatedly stressed that the facility will be ready for the Olympics, despite the tightening construction timetable. More preliminary games will be held this weekend, and the NHL is expected to make a statement after that. 

The women’s ice hockey competition is set for Feb. 5-19, while the men’s tournament will run from Feb. 11-22.