The 2026 Winter Olympics are less than two months away and the NHL says if the hockey rinks aren’t ready in time or are unsafe, the league’s players are “not going” to the Games.
On Tuesday, a match was played on the secondary Rho Ice Hockey Arena, one of two planned locations for hockey in February’s Milano Cortina Games.
But the question remains if the main Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena will be ready in time, despite officials saying the 16,000-seat facility will be good to play on.
The concerns surrounding the rink are not just about if the structure will be ready, but also if the ice will even be playable.
“They haven’t made ice yet,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said during a news conference on Wednesday in Winnipeg. “So we don’t know how good the ice is yet on the number one rink.”
February’s Olympics will be the first since 2014 featuring participation by NHL players.
The NHL says it has sent its own ice specialists to help with preparations, but the league says until the surface is tested with skaters and the warmth from many fans in the arena, it may not be clear if the quality will be good enough.
“If the ice isn’t ready and it’s not safe, then we’re not going,” said NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly. “I mean, I think that’s self-evident.”
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The size of the rinks are also an issue, with the NHL being caught off guard earlier this year when it became clear the dimensions of both will be slightly wider and three feet shorter than what the league and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF)agreed upon.
Daly told the Associated Press that the league and NHL Players’ Association have reminded the IIHF that they expect the ice surface to be standard NHL size at the 2030 Winter Games in France.
During Tuesday’s match, Japan captain Daigo Hotta said the ice at the Rho rink firmed up by game time though had said it was a “little soft” during a pre-game skate. The dimensions were immediately noticeable, Hotta said.
“I play back in the States. The rinks are pretty small, but I think this one is one of the smallest rinks I’ve ever played in,” Hotta said. “The neutral zone’s smaller. The space between the dots and the boards. I think everything’s a little smaller than normal.”
The match was part of the Group B Under-20 world championship tournament being held this week.
Daly acknowledged the groups “did have a misunderstanding.”
The head of games operations for Milano Cortina recently dismissed questions about the rink size, noting the ice surfaces are consistent with IIHF rules. The official also said the ice has the same dimensions as the rinks used in Beijing in 2022, and in Stockholm, Sweden, where the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators played twice last month as part of the NHL’s Global Series.
“It is clear that the dimensions of the rink are different, but if you come to play in Europe, all the rinks have this type of size,” Andrea Francisi said Tuesday. “So somehow you have to adapt to this kind of dimension.”
The NHL says it is trying to put the problem in the past, saying it won’t make too much of a difference in play, but the big worry remains that no Olympic hockey venue has been this far from completion so close to puckdrop.
The first hockey game of the Olympics is Feb. 5, when the women’s tournament will begin.
—with files from Global News’ Mike Armstrong and The Associated Press
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