Players Satisfied With Future Olympic Ice Surface On Day Two Of Milan Test Event

There was no shortage of fiery Italian passion as a skirmish between numerous Cortina and Asiago players broke out as the clock expired in the opening semifinal of Italy's Serie A Final Four.

The spirited contest between the rival Italian clubs served as part of a crucial seven-game Olympic test event, ongoing at Milan's newly opened Santagiulia Olympic Hockey Arena.

After tempers cooled, players addressed pressing issues, including ice quality, rink dimensions, venue facilities, and other observations at the Santagiulia Olympic Hockey Arena.

Players generally expressed positivity across the board, predicting that everything would only get better moving forward. The Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games open in just under four weeks. Still, key improvements are required.

Asiago forward Carter "Brock" Johnson tallied the game-winning goal in his team's 2-1 triumph over Cortina, helping them to advance to Sunday's finale. The 30-year-old forward from Gimli, Man., was pleasantly surprised with his Milan experience, thus far.

"They told us to hope for the best, but expect the worst, but overall, I thought it was a good experience – from my point of view, the ice was great, fans were great, very good atmosphere, and I couldn't complain one bit, I've really enjoyed it," Johnson said.

Johnson addressed the hottest topic swirling around the Olympic venue – the dimensions of the Santagiula ice surface, which are 60 by 20 meters (approx. 196.85 ft x 85.3 ft), slightly shorter and wider than a standard NHL rink. 

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"I've been training on NHL ice back home, so it was pretty normal for me, but you know, for guys being on the European sheet all year, it's a big adjustment," Johnson said. "Once we adjusted, I thought we'd settled in well. Obviously, there's speculation of the different sizes and whatnot, but to me, it felt great, and ice conditions were good."

Cortina goaltender Antti Juho Pekka Karjalainen was happy about both the ice conditions and arena sight lines from his perspective in the crease.

"I think the quality of the ice was pretty good – it is pretty thin though, so there is a weird hollow noise coming from it, but overall, it is pretty okay," said the 30-year-old Finn backstopper. 

"This place is going to be very cool, but everything still needs to be cleaned up, and small things need to be fixed. We can play now, but outside of the ice, it is not fully ready."

First-Hand Look At Milan's Santagiulia Olympic Hockey Arena: Officially Opened, But Far From PerfectWith weeks to go, necessary improvements certainly remain a major work-in progress. But at least now there is evidence — and hope — that Italian Olympic organizers should be capable of successfully welcoming the NHL’s elite to the Olympic stage, just four weeks from now.

Asiago forward and Canadian native Ryan Valentini – who scored the opening goal of the contest, 11:04 into the second period – offered a mostly positive assessment of the Santagiulia venue. He also touched on the smaller-than-intended ice surface. 

"I'm honestly impressed with how quickly that they've got it together after some of those photos that were posted online the last few days," said the 28-year-old forward. "If you compare everything to last month, it's a pretty big difference.

Valentini admitted that the smaller ice surface, especially different than what European clubs are accustomed to, altered the style of play.

"There's so much less time and space – we're usually a really creative team, but it's really different here when you enter the zone. I don't know if the NHL guys will notice this, but we definitely do," he said.  

Does Size Really Matter? Why A Smaller Olympic Ice Rink Should Ring Alarm BellsMilan's Olympic ice could be slightly smaller than NHL standards, sparking fears of organizational blunders and a compromised hockey experience for players and fans who have waited 12 years for best-on-best hockey.

Cortina defenseman Alberto Colli, 22, talked about both the rare fight in Italian league play and the consistency of the ice.

"A few of our players used to play for Asiago, so there was a bit of old animosity there," Colli said. "In Italian hockey, there are generally not too many fights. Maybe playing in the future Olympic arena contributed to it, making a better show for the big crowd tonight."

Colli, whose grandfather Bruno carried the Olympic Flame in Cortina d'Ampezzo prior to the 1956 Olympic opening ceremony, also touched on the ice and overall facilities.

"The ice is solid, good ice, fast ice, and it stays consistent for all 20 minutes," said the Italian hockey player.

"There still remains some construction to do at the facility, but concerning the rink, there are nice benches, nice boards, I even like the stands, and I think this will be a good stadium, a good arena for hockey," said Colli.

Colli is counting the days until Italy's second Winter Olympics open.

"I have two tickets to come here to see Italy play Sweden, and see one of my best friends on the Italian team, Luca Zanatta," Colli continued. "I'm also excited to see how this arena is going to be in one month, and how it will respond with more fans, more media and a different environment."

"I hope it will be a great show for Italian hockey culture," Colli said.

The three-day Olympic test event concludes on Sunday with the IHL Serie A third-place and gold medal game between HC Asiago and Rittner Buam SkyAlps, followed by the Coppa Italia Scudetto. 

IIHF president Luc Tardif, Milano Cortina CEO Andrea Varnier and IOC Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi are expected to address Italian and international media and offer a final assessment of the test event on Sunday afternoon.

Ice Chief Don Moffat Explains Hole in Ice

During Friday night's opening contest and official unveiling of the arena, a hole developed near center ice and needed to be repaired in the second period. A small crew addressed the problem, mending and smoothing the ice surface, resulting in a roughly five-minute delay. 

Santagiulia ice master Don Moffat addressed the specific issue and overall state of the ice at the future Olympic facility.

"After these two competition days, we're very happy and satisfied with the field of play – the hockey rink is constantly taken care of and managed with competency and great professionalism," Moffat said. 

"When we're speaking of new ice that hasn't been skated on yet, it's normal that it responds with cracks, which can also be caused by the ice resurfacer. On first occasion, many holes may happen, but here, the ice has been good, and only one occurred that was two centimeters wide.

"We filled it right away, and at the end of the period, we passed over it with the ice resurfacer. It was solid by the start of the second period. We're very satisfied because these are minor details and in line with the usual process."

A fresh coat of ice is planned for Santagiulia this coming week, following the conclusion of the three-day test event.

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