Milan's Olympic ice could be slightly smaller than NHL standards, sparking fears of organizational blunders and a compromised hockey experience for players and fans who have waited 12 years for best-on-best hockey.
Does size really matter?
It's a question that hockey fans might be asking themselves as we inch closer to the Olympic Games in Milan. Early reports suggest that the main ice rink used for the men's and women's hockey – the 16,000-seat Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena – could be three to four feet shorter than the NHL standard.
"Actually, the ice surface, it looks like it's going to be smaller than NHL rink standards, by probably three or four feet," Team Canada assistant coach Peter DeBoer told Sportsnet's Real Kyper & Bourne on Monday.
"I don't understand how that happened."
Until 2010, the Olympics were being played on ice surfaces that were 13-and-a-half feet wider than NHL surfaces. So shrinking the ice by about the length of a hockey stick should not be that big of a deal for NHLers who can adapt to pretty much anything.
However, it should raise some alarm bells.
If Olympic organizers can't even measure the size of the rink right, what else have they accidentally got wrong? What else have they overlooked? Is the ice going to be slushy? Is the red line going to be painted pink? Are the pucks going to be replaced with tennis balls?
That's the concern as the NHL returns to the Olympics for the first time since 2014. Part of the reason the NHL skipped the past two Winter Games was a lack of input into the final product. The Olympics are an IOC-controlled event, meaning that the IOC handles everything, from excluding Russians to making neck guards mandatory.
The NHL just shows up and hopes that everything is right. But with two months to go before the start of the Olympics, hope might be disappearing as Frank Seravalli reported as of Oct. 31, the main arena still lacked a roof.
Who knows, maybe organizers are planning to stage outdoor games? Then again, considering that there is no backup rink, it could be a reality.
"We're hearing rumblings that this arena that is supposed to host the Olympics in Milan is not only not on track, but some really concerning updates have emanated from Milan in the last few days," Seravalli said. "First off, the Milan organizing committee saying that there is no plan B, that there's no other place to host these games; that they're not looking to move the games somewhere else. And that part has certainly raised a red flag, because I know the NHL has done their best to stay out of it, knowing that this is an IOC-controlled event."
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Somewhere, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is sweating nervously. Or maybe he's smiling, knowing that with every mistake and misstep being made by the IOC, it becomes even easier to convince the NHLPA to skip future Olympics for World Cup of Hockey events.
After all, the last thing you want is an inferior product — or no product at all.
An ice surface that is substandard could lead to unnecessary injuries. A rink that has wonky dimensions could make the hockey unwatchable.
Hockey fans — and players — have been waiting 12 years for this tournament to finally happen. All they want is for the Olympics to be a success. We want another Miracle on Ice or for Sidney Crosby to create another Golden Goal. We not only want best-on-best, but we also want them to be at their best. That means having a competitive tournament that is played on an ice surface that looks and feels the way it does in the NHL.
Ideally, we want to see a tournament similar to what we saw at the 4 Nations Face-Off. But if the IOC can't even get the ice surface dimensions right, then maybe this will be the last time the NHL returns to the Olympics.
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