Olympic Ice Rink Size Concerns

Published 8 Dec 2025 at 22:42Updated at 22:58

The chaos surrounding the Olympic hockey arena in Milan continues.

Now the organizer confirms that the rink will be shorter than usual.

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In two months, the Olympics will start in Milan and Cortina.

But the hockey arena is still not ready. This has mainly been due to major delays in the construction of the main arena, the Milan Santagiulia Arena.

Last week there was information about the next setback. The rink was alleged to be improperly constructed and a meter shorter than an NHL rink, which measures 61 meters in length and 26 meters in width.

– It’s not a huge difference, but it’s a difference and it’s in the smaller direction, not the bigger one, said Pete DeBoer, assistant coach in Canada at the time.

So much difference in size

Now the Olympic organization confirms the information. The rink will be 60 meters long, which is then one meter shorter than an NHL rink. At the same time, it becomes barely a decimetre wider.

”All parties involved – the IIHF, the Organizing Committee, the NHL, the NHLPA, the IOC and the relevant arena managers – agree that the differences in the rink specifications are insignificant and should not affect either the safety or the quality of the game. We look forward to welcoming the world’s best players to a “best against the best” competition during the Games“, the organization writes in a press release.

According to the organization, the total rink size corresponds to that used during the 2022 Beijing Olympics.