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≡ SANTAGIULIA ARENA TO OPEN ≡
“From 9 to 11 January 2026, the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena will be officially inaugurated, hosting the Final Four of the IHL Serie A Championship and the 2025/2026 Italian Cup.”
That’s from a Wednesday announcement that the delayed-in-finishing main ice hockey arena for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games will open for what is in effect a test run with the final of the Italian Cup. Per the statement:
“The January test event will be an important trial ahead of the Games. Seven games are scheduled for a high-adrenaline weekend. The on-ice programme opens on Friday 9 January at 19:00 with the first Italian Cup semifinal. On Saturday 10 January, the second Italian Cup semifinal will take place at 11:00, followed by the two semifinals of the IHL Serie A Final Four at 15:30 and 20:00.
“The grand finale is set for Sunday 11 January with three decisive matches: the IHL bronze medal game at 11:00, followed by the Italian Cup final at 15:30 and the match awarding the 92nd IHL Italian Championship title at 20:00.”
The arena, which is being privately funded and built as a 16,000-seat multi-use arena for the Milan area, was supposed to host the International Ice Hockey Federation’s U-20 Division I-Group B World Championship from 8-14 December.
Because the Santagiulia arena is not ready, that tournament is being played at the smaller Milano Rho ice hockey arena, located in the giant Fiero Milano convention complex, also to be used for the 2026 Winter Games.
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There has been continuing concern over the status of the Santagiulia arena from the National Hockey League, with Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly saying in an interview published Wednesday:
“Depends on the percentage you want to place on the possibility the rink doesn’t get completed. If there’s no rink completed, there’s no NHL players going to the Olympics.”
The newest complication came on Monday, when Canadian assistant coach Pete DeBoer told the “Real Kyper & Bourne” radio program:
● “Actually, the ice surface, it looks like it’s going to be smaller than NHL rink standards, by probably three or four feet. I don’t understand how that happened.”
● “I don’t believe it’s a huge difference. But I believe there is a difference, and it’s on the smaller, not the bigger side.”
It was later reported that the Santagiulia ice sheet will be 60 m x 30 m or 196.85 feet long and 85.3 feet wide, a little wider, but shorter than the standard 200 feet for an NHL rink. But quite understandable for a European – metric – rink.
ESPN reported that although the slightly different dimensions were not what was agreed between the IIHF, the NHL and the NHL Players Association, it was not believed to be a safety concern and
“The Nashville Predators and Pittsburgh Penguins played games at Avicii Arena in Stockholm, Sweden last month for the Global Series in a rink that was also slightly off from NHL dimensions. The NHL’s solution was to move the lines to account for the missing ice area surface in the neutral zone, rather than either offensive zone.”
The Olympic schedule has the women playing from 5-19 February and the men’s tournament from 11-22 February, utilizing both arenas.
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