As the 2026 Winter Olympics approach, a shadow of uncertainty looms over the preparations. The opening face-off approaches in just over a month, and the Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in Milan, the main venue for the event, is still very much a construction site. The last-minute rush has placed the IOC and the IIHF under intense scrutiny, highlighting a critical disconnect with the league whose involvement is vital to the event’s reputation.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman expressed significant concern regarding the current situation during an appearance on NHL on TNT. He remarked, “You know, the International Olympic Committee and the International Ice Hockey Federation are responsible for what’s going to go on at the Olympics. It makes me… Not that I’m a control freak. But turning our game and our players over to a third party.”

Additionally, Bettman stated, “You know, let’s just say I would have been happier if they were testing the ice and finishing the rink a year ago or six months ago. Not doing it now with 35 days to go to the start of the Olympics.”

For Bettman, whose league is dispatching its stars to the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014, the delays represent not just an organizational setback but a considerable risk.

“I’m not trying to pile on this; in all of the prior Olympics, whether they built permanent or temporary facilities, it’s never been this late for a completion in the building of ice,” he noted earlier, describing the situation as “disappointing” on several occasions.

Furthermore, the NHL has decided to pause its season, placing its most prized assets—its players—into a tournament that lies beyond its direct control. However, another unanticipated controversy emerged surrounding the Olympic rink.

The Winter Olympics arena is different from a regular NHL rink

The dimensions of the ice hockey rink for the 2026 Winter Olympics have emerged as an issue, with the surfaces failing to align with NHL specifications, despite prior agreements. The Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena, the main venue, is under construction in accordance with the specifications set forth by the IIHF, which call for a playing surface measuring 196.85 feet in length and 85.3 feet in width.

The dimensions of the Olympic ice surface contrast with the NHL’s standard rink, measuring 200 by 85 feet. So, the Olympic rink is over three feet shorter in length and marginally wider by 0.3 feet.

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NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly remarked, “I think the IIHF was under the impression they had a different interpretation of what NHL ice meant than we would have. Even on the site visits, I’m not sure it was anything that was perceptible to anybody. It’s not like people bring tape measures there. So, for whatever reason, it came back the way it came back.”

The true test of the ice will not lie in its exact measurements, but rather in its capacity to enable the world’s finest hockey stars to compete safely and provide the remarkable display that has been anticipated.