As the NHL’s Board of Governors convened in Colorado Springs, Colorado, for their annual December meetings, the league was tracking construction updates for the Olympic ice hockey arena in Milan. One issue? Organizers had apparently signed off on a rink that didn’t have the correct dimensions. Even more concerning: less than two months away from the tournament, the arena wasn’t close to being finished.
That led to deputy commissioner Bill Daly’s headline-grabbing statement: «If the players believe that ice isn’t safe, then we’re not going to play. It’s as simple as that.»
The NHL hasn’t sent players to the Olympics in 12 years due to a myriad of issues. Many of those issues — insurance, travel costs, commercial licensing rights — were addressed in an agreement the NHL and NHLPA signed with the IIHF and IOC in July. It should have been smooth sailing from there. Instead, things felt uncomfortably fragile just two months out.
Matthew Tkachuk said on his «Wingmen» podcast last month. «Even if it’s not safe, I still want to play.»
League sources have stressed there is no Plan B or shadow planning for an alternative tournament. No locations have been secured in Switzerland or North America, contrary to rumors. Federations like Hockey Canada and USA Hockey have not prepared backup rosters of non-NHL players.
IIHF president Luc Tardif said in a news conference at the world junior championship on Monday that while Hockey 1 in Milan is not «exactly» what he expected, he was confident in the infrastructure and that the tournament would go on.
«We can be confident on that,» Tardif said. «You’re not going to go to Milano for nothing.»
The updates since the Board of Governors meeting on arena construction have been positive. When NHL executives toured the arena in August, it was still a hard-hat construction zone, with no roads leading to the arena. Local crews have picked up the pace, especially in the last month. Photos taken weeks apart now show drywall in areas like the mixed zone, where players will conduct postgame interviews. «The rink now looks like a rink,» says one league source who has been briefed. A test event late last month at the secondary ice arena, Hockey 2, which will host men’s and women’s games, was a success.
Brady Tkachuk said: «We are going no matter what.»
