While the NHL is concerned about the status of the ice hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games, sources told ESPN on Wednesday there are no indications the league would pull out of the event -- despite reports that the ice arena surface is about 3 feet too short.
The NHL plans to send players to the 2026 Olympics in February for the first time since the 2014 Games in Sochi. The agreement between the NHL, NHL Players' Association and International Ice Hockey Federation clearly states that the ice in Milan must be built to NHL standards.
However, the main arena's construction is not finished yet -- causing organizers to push test events back to January and sparking concern from both the NHL and NHLPA.
On Tuesday, the Athletic reported that the IIHF approved a 196.85-foot by 85.3-foot sheet of ice in Milan, which is more than three feet shorter than the NHL's standard 200-foot by 85-foot dimensions. The issue was first raised publicly on Monday by Team Canada assistant coach Pete DeBoer in a Sportsnet radio interview the "Real Kyper and Bourne" show. DeBoer, who visited Milan earlier this fall, said: "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."
The NHL has no control over the construction of the new 16,000-seat rink in the outskirts of Milan, and is still committed to making it work, sources told ESPN on Wednesday. The Nashville Predators and Pittsburgh Penguins played games at Avicii Arena in Stockholm, Sweden last month for the Global Series in a rink that was also slightly off from NHL dimensions. The NHL's solution was to move the lines to account for the missing ice area surface in the neutral zone, rather than either offensive zone.
While the Olympic rink dimensions being slightly off is not ideal and is a violation of the agreement between the NHL, NHLPA and IIHF, the league does not view it as a concern in terms of safety. One NHL player already named to an Olympic team told ESPN that he didn't believe the ice area being three feet shorter would affect the game too much. "With the talent level there's already going to be no time and space," the player said. "The games are going to be incredible no matter what. Just give us a sheet of ice we'll be good."
The league sent a contingent to Milan last month to check in on the status of the rink, and according to sources, the main takeaway was that organizers were making progress but needed to speed things up. There is no backup plan if the main ice hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Winter Games is not ready on time.
The women's hockey tournament is scheduled to begin on Feb. 5; the men's hockey tournament begins on Feb. 11.
The original plan was to use a portion of the U-20 world championships in December as a test event. Typically, Olympic venues have test events as far back as a year before the Games begin. The new test event for the Milan arena is now scheduled for Jan. 9-11.
The NHL and NHLPA signed an agreement with the IIHF in July to send players back to the Olympics, believing it's an important event to help grow the game globally. The agreement covered several areas including player accommodation, hotel and ticketing for guests, as well as the NHL and NHLPA's role in the event -- which is league sources often describe as being a partner or guest and not host.