Light at the end of the tunnel. The Santagiulia ice rink hosted its first official matches this weekend in Milan. A long-awaited test event, less than a month before the Olympic Games. For three days, from Friday to Sunday, the best Italian teams battled it out on the ice, with two titles at stake: the Italian championship and the national cup. A look back at this dress rehearsal, which was inevitably closely watched.
Seven matches and thousands of spectators
The delays in the progress of the work have caused concern, both at the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and at the NHL, which was demanding guarantees before allowing its stars to participate in the Games. Last weekend helped to dispel some of the doubts. The games proceeded without any particular problems: one game on Friday, three on Saturday, and three more on Sunday. A hole appeared in the ice during the game played Friday evening, but nothing abnormal. It was a small hole and it was fixed in five minutes. " assures Kaltern/Caldaro hockey player Florian Wieser, on X.
The public also had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the venue. Tickets were on sale at attractive prices, ranging from two to twelve euros. Some 5.000 spectators were in the stands on Friday evening. While not all the food outlets are yet operational, accessibility is fully operational, a major consideration given the arena's location far from the city center, near Linate Airport, southeast of Milan. A tram line and five bus lines provided access to the site. Shuttle buses serving the ice rink also operated from the Rogoredo station, departing every six minutes towards Santagiulia and every four minutes in the opposite direction.
"The ice cream will be perfect."
Clearly, the workers still have a long list of things to do, as evidenced by the photo posted Thursday evening by Florian Wieser in the "locker rooms." The hockey player, however, seemed convinced by the playing conditions. Was the ice perfect? No, but we were expecting much worse, and the ice didn't negatively impact the game. I had the opportunity to speak with the manager; he told me that the ice quality wouldn't be an issue, that it would improve considerably once people started skating on it and the ventilation system began operating in the coming days. The ice will be perfect; the main problem is that the rest of the arena is still under construction. »
Locker rooms are still a work in progress #Olympics2026 #olympics #nhl pic.twitter.com/WNG4Lw9SRe
— FloWie (@fwieser55) January 8, 2026
« Starting January 21st, we will apply new layers (of ice) and repaint the ice using specialized machines: it will be shiny and perfect for the upcoming Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. " says Dan Moffatt, who is in charge of maintaining the ice rink, the ANSA news agencyThe Canadian, widely recognized for his expertise in the field, guaranteed ideal playing conditions.
Luc Tardif was on site this weekend, along with officials from the NHL and the NHL Players' Association. Even though some parts of the rink won't be completely finished for the start of the Games, the facility will be operational. There are still some finishing touches to be done, plenty of things to do, but there are still three weeks left, in a situation where it will be easier for companies to get involved, without a sporting event. "The IIHF president told AFP." I'll be able to sleep well tonight. " he added with a smile, acknowledging that the progress of the construction had somewhat disrupted his sleep these past few months. Now, see you on February 5th for the opening of the women's tournament.
