Report: NHL concerned about 2026 Olympic hockey arena, will inspect construction progress
Concerned about the ongoing construction process surrounding the official ice hockey venue for the 2026 Winter Olympics, the National Hockey League will send representatives to Milan next week to inspect the site.
The Athletic hockey insider Pierre LeBrun reported from the NHL’s GM meetings in Toronto on Tuesday that the league will send Derek King and Dean Matsuzaki to Italy for an in-person check-in with less than three months remaining until the first puck drops.
“It continues to be concerning,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told LeBrun after Tuesday’s meetings. “Hopefully we’ll have a much better sense of it next week.”
The 2026 Olympics will be the sixth with NHL player participation, and the first since the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia. The league opted not to send its players to the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea amidst disputes over travel costs and marketing; scheduling complications in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a similar abstention from the 2022 Games in Beijing.
In February of 2024, the NHL and its Players’ Association reached an agreement with the International Ice Hockey Federation to allow their players to return to the Olympics in 2026 and 2030. The 2026 Games in Milan will primarily make use of existing infrastructure but require a new facility for hockey, called PalaItalia Santa Giulia, which is expected to accommodate 16,000 spectators upon completion. A smaller arena, called the Fiera Milano, will seat 6,500.
Last month, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman publicly expressed concern about the tight construction timeline for the arena. The facility was originally slated to have its first “test event” in December but that was postponed to January due to construction delays; the opening game at the women’s tournament is scheduled for Feb. 5, followed by the men’s tournament on Feb. 11.
“We’ve had a concern for the last two years on the progress of the rink — both rinks, but mainly the main one — but it’s the IOC’s responsibility,” Bettman said in October. “We’re invited guests, but they know of our concerns, and we’re expecting that they’re going to make good on all the promises to have a facility that is, from a competitive standpoint, first class.”
Team Canada has won each of the last two Olympics men’s ice hockey tournaments with NHL player participation, capturing gold at Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014. More recently, the Canadians won the NHL-sanctioned 4 Nations Face-Off, which took place in February 2025.
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