Is the lack of a backup plan to the Olympics concerning?
With just a couple of months until the puck drops for the women’s tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics, there’s growing concern that the arena meant for ice hockey in Milan, Italy, won’t be ready for the massive tournament.
Multiple reports indicate that construction on the Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena is well behind schedule, leading to a test event, the IIHF Division 1B World Junior Championship, has been moved due to the problems in the building process. After a recent visit by the NHL’s brass to the event’s site, there’s even more worry that the venue might not be ready to go by February.
That led to some interesting comments from the league’s deputy commissioner, Bill Daly, who said on Wednesday that, “If there’s no rink completed, there’s no NHL players going to the Olympics.” However, the NHL reportedly doesn’t have any plans if they end up not allowing their players to go to Italy.
On Thursday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton discuss if the lack of a backup plan from the NHL, if the league pulls its players from the Olympic hockey tournament, is a concern.
Tyler Yaremchuk: It’s either Milan and it’s going to Italy, or it’s nothing. What? We’re gonna have what, a month break in the schedule with the players just all sitting in Cabo? That’s insane.
Carter Hutton: Then again, it goes to the fact that like it’s supposed to be done and not being able to get this done on the Olympic stage is wild to me. I know it’s not totally on the NHL, this is the IIHF and what’s going on. Still, this feels like the bare minimum should have been figured out. This should have been planned out better and it’s very disappointing. There’s so many issues that go into it, and I’m with Bill Daly on this, because you have to put the players and their safety and the situation you’re putting them in…that has got to be priority number one. Right now, from Milan and from the Olympics, what we’re seeing, that’s not what we’re getting.
So, they would rather err on the side of safety and caution, I believe, to keep your players safe than lose out on the possibility of another Four Nations Cup. Maybe they can swing something and make it happen. … This will be thoroughly disappointing because I feel like the Olympics, the NHL, hockey in general, has been a great place. To miss this opportunity is huge for the NHL.
You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…