MILAN \u2014 Olympic organizers are \u201c100 per cent\u201d confident the NHL won\u2019t pull out of the\u00a0Milan Cortina Games\u00a0with the new ice hockey arena finally ready. Or almost.<\/p>\n
Construction delays\u00a0and\u00a0other concerns\u00a0about the Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena have drawn headlines for weeks ahead of the NHL returning to the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014 and the women\u2019s tournament opening on Feb. 5.<\/p>\n
The NHL has\u00a0expressed concern\u00a0about the construction and quality of the ice surface. NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said last month in Winnipeg that the league would not send its players if there were any safety concerns.<\/p>\n
When Andrea Francisi, the chief games operations officer for Milan Cortina, was asked on Friday how confident he was that NHL players would participate, he said, \u201c100 per cent, 100 per cent.\u201d<\/p>\n
IOC sports director Pierre Ducrey echoed his sentiments.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very confident they will be here and it\u2019s going to be extremely exciting,\u201d Ducrey said. \u201cWe\u2019re very excited they\u2019re coming back; 12 years, there was a lot of work from a lot people to make sure this happens.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, yeah, you will have NHL players here in February and it is going to be amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The NHL is expected to release a statement at the end of its visit to the new arena, with a delegation at a long-awaited test event over the next three days.<\/p>\n
The first match of the test event \u2014 the final league and cup games of the domestic season \u2014 was briefly delayed to fix what organizers said was a small hole in the ice.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson from the Milan Cortina organizing committee told The Associated Press the ice master \u2014 Don Moffatt, who works for the Colorado Avalanche \u2014 was happy with the ice and reassured them that this was a completely normal occurrence that can happen the first time the ice is skated on.<\/p>\n