MILAN – Winter Olympics organisers insisted on Jan 9 that the Milano-Cortina Games’ main ice hockey rink will be ready for competition in February, despite a key test event being delayed by a small hole in the ice.

Asked whether there was any possibility that the venue, in the eastern Santa Giulia district of Milan, would not be ready to host matches, International Olympic Committee (IOC) sport director Pierre Ducrey told reporters: “No chance at all.”

And organisers said they were not worried even after an Italian Cup match played on the rink on Jan 9 was briefly stopped due to the hole, which was quickly patched up.

Don Moffatt, who works for the Colorado Avalanches in the National Hockey League (NHL) and is in charge of the ice at the Olympic rink, told AFP via a spokesman that he is happy with the ice and that such teething problems can happen the first time a rink is skated on.

Officially called the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena, the rink is scheduled to host 33 preliminary and knock-out games at the upcoming Olympics, which run between Feb 6 and 22.

Organisers told AFP it is structurally ready and that the remaining needed works – visible both in the stands and the concourses – are simply “the finishing touches”.

Ducrey insisted that players from the NHL, widely regarded as the world’s top hockey league, will compete at the Olympics for the first time since 2014.

Their participation was called into question as recently as December by the NHL’s deputy commissioner Bill Daly, due to concerns about the playing surface.

“We’re very excited they’re coming back,” Ducrey said to reporters at the ice rink.

“Twelve years. It was a lot of work from a lot of people to make sure this happens. You will have NHL players here in February, and it’s going to be amazing.”

Andrea Francisi, Chief Games Operations Offic...