Hockey will as soon as once more be a flagship sport as subsequent month’s Winter Olympics, not least due to the reintroduction of NHL players which will see a few of the world’s greatest stars compete for a medal.
But whereas anticipation grows for the first puck drop of the Games, there have been fears that the venues which are set to host the hockey schedule might not be prepared in time.
Critics will not be simply fearful about the buildings being completed in time for the followers, however there have been additionally questions round the enjoying floor itself.
Here is the whole lot we know about the potential controversy which caused the NHL to quickly think twice about letting its gamers compete in Italy.
Players from the NHL – the world’s premier hockey league – are set to return to the Olympics for the first time since 2014.
The league opted out of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to the Covid-19 pandemic and beforehand determined towards permitting gamers to compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, saying the competitors would disrupt the hockey season.
But what ought to have been an thrilling buildup to a world-class competitors has as an alternative been fraught with concern over the readiness of each hockey venues in Milan: the Milano Santagiulia and Milano Rho stadiums.
It bought to the stage the place NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said final month that the league wouldn’t ship its gamers if there have been any security issues with the ice.
So what precisely have been the points?
Will Italy’s ice hockey arenas be accomplished earlier than the Olympic Games start?
With lower than one month till the Winter Olympic Games start in Milan, building delays round its ice hockey arenas have raised issues about whether or not they’ll be prepared in time for the video games. NCS’s Antonia Mortensen reviews.
The league has already had to concede that the rinks will likely be barely wider and shorter than typical NHL dimensions – however nonetheless inside International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) requirements – after which there have been issues round the high quality of the new ice itself, with a small gap showing in a earlier take a look at occasion.
On high of that, the venue infrastructure is delayed and the capability of the new primary venue, Milano Santagiulia, might not be what was initially desired.
The head of the IIHF, Luc Tardif, told reporters himself that the primary hockey rink for the Games might not be totally completed by the time the first sport begins, however promised the enjoying floor, observe amenities and dressing rooms can be prepared for the begin of the males’s event which will embrace NHL gamers.
All eyes, then, have been on a take a look at occasion at the venue final weekend.
NHL officers have been in Italy to monitor the take a look at occasion and have been fairly happy with the progress, a lot to the reduction of native organizers.
On Monday, the NHL and NHL Players’ Association stated in a joint assertion that the assessments have been “a good trial run and provided important insight into the current status” of building.
“While challenges are inherent with new ice and a still-under-construction venue, we expect that the work necessary to address all remaining issues will continue around the clock,” they stated in an announcement.
“The NHL and NHLPA will continue to monitor the situation, standing ready to consult and advise on the work being done to ensure that the local organizing committee, the IOC (International Olympic Committee), and the IIHF deliver a tournament and playing conditions befitting the world’s best players.”
Before that, IIHF head Tardif instructed reporters at the weekend that he was “happy and confident” that issues have been on monitor with the enjoying floor.
“We know how it’s difficult to have a high level of quality of ice for the third game of the third period,” he stated.
“Yesterday that was a good test because that was fantastic; the puck was sliding and we weren’t bumping and there was some adjustment that’s a little bit more slow but that was a conclusive test.”
He added: “There is no reason that the NHL will not come.”
It was sentiment shared by IOC Sports Director Pierre Ducrey, who instructed reporters at the take a look at occasion that he was “very confident” the NHL will likely be represented at the Games.
“It’s going to be extremely exciting. We’re very excited they are coming back. Twelve years – it 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,” he stated.
But whereas the enjoying floor seems to be to be heading in the proper route, organizers nonetheless concede that different, much less very important, areas of the venues might not be completely full in time for the begin of the tournaments.
The girls’s competitors will get underway on February 5 earlier than the males’s begins on February 11.
NCS Sports noticed that areas instantly exterior the Milano Santagiulia nonetheless wanted loads of consideration, with followers set to begin pouring in from round the world in only a matter of weeks.