General view shows the rink during the warm up priot the match between Caldaro and Varese at the Milano Hockey Finals as part of Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Games test event at the Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena, in Milan on Januray 9, 2026. —
MILAN — The Santagiulia ice hockey arena in Milan, which will stage the top matches at the Winter Olympics next month, finally opened its doors to the public last night with a test event featuring Italy’s top teams.
The inside of the venue remains under construction, with hospitality areas and locker rooms yet to be completed. The media section has also been set up on a temporary basis.
The first test game also faced a brief delay when a small hole in the ice close to one of the goals had to be repaired.
Speaking at a briefing before the inaugural match, Chief Games Operations Officer Andrea Francisi said he was “100 per cent” confident the facilities would be good enough for NHL players to take part in the Olympics for the first time since 2014.
Local organisers said last month that the rink would be safe after it emerged that the surface would be a little shorter than NHL specifications, raising concerns over the risk of even more high-speed collisions between players.
