Fury is mounting over the chaotic construction of a key venue for the upcoming Milan Cortina Winter Games, with a Team Canada ice hockey coach launching a blistering attack on the delays and claiming the playing surface will be the wrong size.
Construction Chaos and a Missing Plan B
Revelations last month confirmed that work on the new Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena on the outskirts of Milan is critically behind schedule. The 16,000-seat venue, which is set to welcome NHL players back to the Olympic stage for the first time in over a decade, is facing a race to the wire for completion. This has forced the relocation of a planned test event and left new tests pencilled in for January 9-11, dangerously close to the Games' start.
Amid growing anxiety from players, fans, and organisers, Andrea Francisi, the chief games operations officer for Milan Cortina, delivered a stark message to the Associated Press, stating unequivocally: 'There is no plan B.' He insisted that competitions must be held impeccably at Santa Giulia, despite admitting there is 'no precise date' for the venue's handover to local organisers.
'I Don't Understand How That Happened': Coach's Ice Size Fury
Adding significant fuel to the fire, Team Canada men's assistant coach Peter DeBoer has claimed the arena's fundamental ice sheet is incorrectly sized. Speaking to Sportsnet, DeBoer expressed his disbelief, saying, 'The ice surface, it looks like it's going to be smaller than NHL rink standard by probably 3 or 4 feet. I don't understand how that happened.'
This is a major issue because, despite the tournament being in Europe, initial plans aimed to use the slightly smaller NHL dimensions preferred by the returning professional stars. A standard NHL rink is 200 feet long and 85 feet wide. If DeBoer's assessment is correct, the Milan rink would be roughly the length of an Olympic sheet but a problematic 10 feet narrower than the international standard.
A Race Against the Olympic Clock
The situation breaks with standard Olympic practice, where new venues are typically tested at least a year before medal events. For a large hockey arena, testing is not just about the ice quality and player safety; it involves a full shakedown of everything from concession stands and bathrooms to crowd flow and facilities.
Francisi remains 'healthily optimistic', citing daily updates and claiming construction companies have 'sped up their work significantly'. He expressed confidence 'for the moment' that the arena will be ready. The first scheduled Olympic event there is a women's preliminary round match on February 5, just one day before the opening ceremony. The women's tournament runs until February 19, while the high-profile men's competition, featuring NHL players, is scheduled for February 11-22.
With the world watching and no alternative venue, the pressure is now immense on Italian organisers to deliver a safe, competition-ready arena in time.
