With the start of the Winter Olympics hockey schedule just over three weeks away, there’s still plenty of work to finish before the puck drops on Feb. 5.
TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston was in Milan, Italy recently to tour the facilities that will host the men’s, women’s and Paralympic hockey tournaments.
Johnston noted one of the most “critical” areas of work that stills needs to be finished is on the dressing rooms, which are housed in a building beside the main rink, the Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.
In a piece for The Athletic, Johnston writes only three of the 14 dressing rooms have been built as of Friday.
Additionally, the practice rink in Milan is still not ready to be skated on as they continue to build up the layers of ice.
They're still building up the layers of ice at the Milan practice rink, which is another important piece of infrastructure. It's not currently ready to be skated on. With the main rink hosting three games per day, teams will use this building for morning or off-day skates: pic.twitter.com/TGwNkqgrB1
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) January 12, 2026
Exterior work outside Santagiulia Arena also needs to be completed, reports Johnston.
Despite the work left to be done, Johnston added the atmosphere at Santagiulia Arena for the test games was “excellent” with good sightlines and acoustics.
On the positive side of the ledger, the atmosphere inside the arena bowl at the Milan Olympic rink was excellent even for the test games. Good sightlines and acoustics: pic.twitter.com/19O9dq3JqL
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) January 12, 2026
During Friday’s test game at Santagiulia Arena, play was halted in the first period when a hole emerged in front of one of the nets. However this common for new ice when its used for the first time.
“There’s some good and bad there. Walking into the arena for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised by some of what I saw. They had a couple of thousand fans in for what was the first-ever test event played here on Friday night. That was pretty good,” Johnston said on Friday.
“The not so good is that there’s still a construction site. There’s a lot of work left to be done on this arena. The biggest issue with this rink is that the test event is being held four weeks before the Olympics start. Typically, you’d want this to be sooner.
“I’d say there’s a lot of good there, but there are a lot of concerns about how much time there is left to finish this rink off.”
The International Olympic Committee said Sunday they were happy with the progress of the venue over the past few weeks.
“What I see personally is an extraordinary seating bowl and this venue … looks fantastic,” IOC Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi said Sunday. “The last time I came was before Christmas, and this is radically different. So, so much progress. Anyone involved here, hat off.
“There’s only one way to go, and that is the view of the experts … and what they tell us, first class.”
Even with the challenges and complications on the ground, there seemed to be a growing sense of anticipation in Milan for the Games
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) January 12, 2026
It's a beautiful city and the logistics of the Athletes Village/surrounding hotels will allow NHL players to soak in the atmosphere: pic.twitter.com/a6zV6PTcWt
The hockey events for Milano Cortina 2026 will take place in two venues.
The first game scheduled for Santagiulia Arena is set for Feb. 5 between the host Italians and France in women’s action. Canada’s women also open their tournament on Feb. 5, but don’t play at the Santagiulia Arena until Feb. 10 against the United States.
The Canadian men will play all three of their round-robin games at the Santagiulia Arena beginning on Feb. 12 against Czechia. The arena will also host the medal round and final set for Feb. 22.
