After Some Test Games, It Looks Like The Olympic Hockey Arena Might Be Okay

After months of concern about the state of the main hockey arena for the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milan, it finally got its first test, and believe it or not, it passed… kind of.

So, if you're not up to speed, here's the rub: the Santagiulia Arena will host hockey games for both the men's and women's tournaments starting next month, but the arena is still not finished just weeks before the start of the Games.

But that's not the biggest problem: the rink is several feet too short, making the playing surface smaller than the NHL-sized dimensions it was supposed to be.

Then, if that wasn't enough, the head of the International Ice Hockey Federation revealed that the arena's capacity at just over 11,000 is quite a bit lower than he had been led to believe.

However, it was in good enough shape to host a slew of games this weekend — seven, according to the Olympics — the first of which pitted Italian clubs SV Kaltern Caldaro and HCMV Varese Hockey against each other.

But, after the game got underway, a photo posted by hockey insider Chris Johnston showed players waiting around as crews tended to a "giant hole" in the ice.

In a following tweet, Johnston clarified that "giant" wasn't the right word, and that issues like this are common on new ice sheets.

In fact, they're not totally uncommon in the NHL.

Still, this is the last thing the folks in Milan would've wanted, at least from an optics perspective, as there are still concerns about the state of this arena.

Luckily, after two days of games, the 2026 Milan Olympics ice master Don Moffat — what a title — liked what he saw.

"After these two competition days, we’re very happy and satisfied with the field of play," he said in a statement, per TSN.

"On a first occasion, many holes may happen, but here, the ice has been good, and only one occurred that was two cm wide. We filled it right away, and at the end of the period, we passed on it with the ice resurfacer. It was solid by the start of the second period.

"We’re very satisfied because these are minor details and in line with the usual process."

Alright, that's good. Hopefully, it'll only improve over the next couple of weeks.

The women's tournament begins on February 5, while the men's tournament begins on February 11.