NHL players’ Olympic return threatened by arena construction delays

The long-awaited return of NHL players to the Winter Olympics could be prolonged due to concerns regarding the construction of the main ice hockey arena for the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games. 

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin that NHL players’ return to the Olympics after more than a decade-long absence rests entirely on organizers’ ability to get the venue built in time for the men’s competition, which runs from Feb. 11– 22. 

Bill Daly, NHL deputy commissioner, speaks at an NHLPA and NHL joint media availability at Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on June 27, 2025. (Brian Babineau/NHL via Getty Images)

“Depends on the percentage you want to place on the possibility the rink doesn’t get completed,” Daly said. “If there’s no rink completed, there’s no NHL players going to the Olympics.”

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Daly’s threat comes amid real concern over the delays in the construction of the main arena.

Local organizers told The Associated Press in October that the main test event scheduled in December for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia arena was pushed to a smaller arena and completion of the main arena will come down to the wire. 

Construction continues at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena for the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, on Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)

But just last week, chief Games operations officer for Milan Cortina Andrea Francisi told the AP that “there is no plan B” and new test events are scheduled until the second week of January. 

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“So necessarily we have to be able to organize the competition in an impeccable manner at Santagiulia,” Francisi added. 

The first game scheduled at the arena is a women’s preliminary round match on Feb. 5, the day before the opening ceremony. Olympic venues, however, are typically tested a year before hosting events. 

Not only are there worries about completion, but there are also concerns regarding the surface of the ice.

United States’ Dylan Larkin, right, celebrates his goal over Canada with teammate Matt Boldy during 4 Nations Face-Off action in Montreal on Feb. 15, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

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The Athletic first reported that the approved sheet of ice for Milan is roughly three feet shorter than the NHL’s standard dimensions for a rink. While the NHL has no control over the construction of the rink, the agreement between the league, the Players Association and the International Ice Hockey Federation states that the arena must be built to NHL standards. 

Sources told ESPN on Wednesday that while there is no indication the league will pull its players from the Games, there are concerns about the construction.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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