NHL players ‘can’t go’ to Winter Olympics if ICE is not safe: Deputy Commissioner – national
The 2026 Winter Olympics are less than two months away and the NHL says that if the hockey rinks are ready in time or unsafe, the league’s players will “walk out” of the games.
On Tuesday, the game was played at the Rho Ice Hockey Stadium of the Secondary, one of the two organized hockey venues for the February Milano Cortina Games.
But the question remains if Santagia ice hockey’s biggest convention will be ready in time, despite officials saying the 16,000-seat venue will be good to play.
The concern surrounding the rink is not only if the structure will be right, but also if the ice will even be played on.
“They haven’t done the ICE ISA,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said during a news conference Wednesday in Winnipeg. “So we don’t know how good the ice is in one rink.”
The February Olympics will be the first since 2014 with the participation of NHL players.
The NHL says it has sent its Ice experts to help with the preparations, but the league says until the area is tested by skaters and the warmth from the many fans in the stadium the arena.
“If the ice isn’t ready and it’s not safe, then we don’t go,” said NHL Deputy Commissioner Daly Daly. “I mean, I think that’s obvious.”
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The size of the rinks is also an issue, with the NHL being caught off guard earlier this year when it became clear the size of both would be what the league and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) had agreed upon.
Daly told Associated Press that the league’s players’ association and the NHL have reminded the IIHF that they expect the ice to be at standard NHL size for the 2030 winter games in France.
For Tuesday’s game, Daput Daiigo Captain Taigo Hotta said the ice at Rhi Rink delayed game time even though he said it was “soft” during the pregame skate. The size was immediately apparent, Hotta said.
“I play back in the states. The rinks are small, but I think this is one of the smallest rinks I’ve ever played on,” said Hotta. “A bit of the Neutral Zone. The space between the dots and the boards. I think it’s all smaller than normal.”
The game was part of the B group Under-20 Championship Warviceship held this week.
Daly acknowledged the parties “have a misunderstanding.”
The head of sports operations of Milano Cortina has recently dismissed traditional questions about the size of the rink, seeing the ice surface is in line with IIHF rules. The official also said that the ice has the same size as the rinks used in Beijing in 2022, in Steden, where the Pittsburgh Penguins and part of the NHL’s Global Series.
“It’s clear that the size of the rink is different, but when you come to play in Europe, all the rinks have this kind of size,” said Andrea Francisi on Tuesday. “So somehow you have to adapt to this kind of situation.”
The NHL says it is trying to put this problem in the past, saying it won’t make a big difference to the game, but the biggest concern remains that there is no place for olympic hockey that was far from the closest finish to the puckdrop.
The first hockey game of the Olympics is February 5, when the women’s competition will begin.
–With files from world news’ Mike Armstrong and the Associated Press
& Copy 2025 Global News, Division of Corse Entertainment Inc.
