One of the big news from last week’s council meeting was that construction of the Olympic Ice Rink in Milan, Italy, is behind schedule. An event scheduled to test the rink and play games in December has been postponed to January.
Construction of the ice rink should be completed by now. The IOC or IIHF do not have a backup plan to use another rink in case this one is not completed. As fourth quarter’s Dave Pagnotta joked on his Sirius XM NHL Network Radio show Wednesday, the game could be played outdoors.
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But there are certainly concerns that the rink, which will host men’s and women’s events during the Winter Olympics, is not yet complete. Similar to the decentralization of the NHL draft, when Commissioner Gary Bettman made it clear that general managers wanted to decentralize, he said the same thing when it came to ice construction.
During an appearance on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio, Commissioner Bettman blamed the unfinished rink construction on the International Olympic Committee and International Ice Hockey Federation, saying he has been raising his concerns for two years.
Transcribed by NHLRumors.com
Steve Kuless: “I want to start talking about the start of the season, but Mr. Commissioner, there’s been a lot of noise about the Olympics. I was told yesterday that this rink doesn’t have a roof, so what are we going to play outside? And then yesterday (Tuesday), Emily Kaplan, I was watching ESPN, and she talked about not having a sendoff, so I don’t quite understand what’s going on. So now that you’re on the show today, can you give us a little bit about the construction side of it? I’m like, why not start on Long Island?”
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Gary Bettman: “Well, both questions are good and both deserve answers. The first one is the construction of the rink in Milan. The main rink for Olympic hockey, if you will, is being built very slowly. That has nothing to do with us and it’s not something we can control.
I have been raising concerns for the better part of two years. Representatives of the International Olympic Committee and the International Ice Hockey Federation are confident that the rink will be ready for the Olympics in February. I sure hope they are right because it will be a disaster for them if they don’t complete the rink.
They’re all right, but typically rinks are prepared for the Olympics a year to six months in advance so they can test them. Obviously, they’re not talking about that time frame. They are discussing getting it up and running a week before the Olympics.
The good news is our icemen are helping them and we’re going to help them, and if there’s not a roof now, I think in the next three months, when we start the Olympics, there will be a roof. That’s one of the issues I always have with stopping seasons and interruptions, but we have no control over it. We are invited guests at best, so there are only so many things we can control, but Olympic infrastructure is certainly not one of them. “
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Now, in terms of the Super Bowl media day type event serving as a send-off for the players, Commissioner Bettman did say that he consulted with the NHLPA and felt it would be best to get the players to Italy as soon as possible so they could acclimate to the Olympics and be at their best for the game. For players, their presence is important.
But it’s clear from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman’s remarks that he’s not happy with the rink not being completed on time.
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