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Canadian standout Connor McDavid and several of his NHL colleagues aren't worried that the rinks at the Milan-Cortina Olympics in February will be smaller than the ones they're used to playing on.
When NHL players mark their return to the Olympics for the first time since 2014, they will do so on ice rinks that are more than three feet shorter than the standard NHL layout and slightly wider.
Given the high speed and intensity of the game, smaller playing surfaces have raised safety concerns, but McDavid, considered the greatest player on the planet, is unfazed. “I don't care,” McDavid, who was one of six players named to Canada's preliminary Olympic roster in June, told reporters in Toronto during a recent NHL game.
“It's OK. Obviously you want good ice, you want good quality ice. The size of the ice doesn't matter.”
The International Ice Hockey Federation said in a statement last week that the differences in the rink's performance are “minor” and should not affect safety or quality of play.
The IIHF also said the ice surfaces are the same dimensions used at the 2022 Beijing Olympics and match the dimensions the NHL requires as part of its arena specifications for Global Series games.
Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews, who earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic team, said he didn't notice a difference when he played on a smaller rink in Sweden two years ago in the NHL Global Series.
“Obviously you want the conditions to be as similar to the NHL as possible and the ice conditions to be as good as possible,” Matthews told Reuters. “But in the end I don't think anyone cares [about the size].
“We will play anywhere. Just the honor of being able to compete in the Olympics is pretty surreal.”
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly spoke Wednesday about the upcoming Winter Olympics and answered questions about their thoughts on the condition of the venue, the ice and what they expect. Bettman said he believes the global event is good for hockey, but added that he remains “disappointed” that the hockey building is not completed.
Adapt quickly
The presence of NHL players at the Olympic Games makes the men's hockey tournament one of the most significant events in global sports life, and the news about the small rinks took the hockey world by surprise.
Maple Leafs forward John Tavares, who won a gold medal with Canada in 2014 and hopes to make the Milan Cortina roster, told Reuters that while it would be better to have NHL-sized rinks at the Olympics, it is not a problem.
“The good thing is that the sizes and all these things are the same for both teams,” Tavares said. “At the end of the day, I think the guys adapt pretty quickly, especially when you're dealing with the best players in the world.”
Milan's Santagiulia hockey arena, which has been beset by construction delays, is now expected to have an ice surface several feet smaller than an NHL-sized rink.
For Leon Draisaitl, who will make his Olympic debut next year after being included in Germany's preliminary squad, the quality of the ice, which will host several games each day at the start of the tournament, is more important than size.
“I don’t care, it’s fine,” Draisaitl told Reuters. “I think the quality [is more important] but in any case, these are the Olympic Games, we can handle it.”
Mattias Ekholm, Sweden's assistant captain at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February and hoping to make the Olympic squad, told Reuters he would have to try the shorter rink himself.
“It's almost one of those cases where you think about it and think, 'Well, two legs won't make much of a difference,' but when you get there, maybe it will,” Ekholm said. “I have no idea.”
