Hockey Rinks at the Olympics Will Be Shorter Than in the NHL 0 18

In both the men's and women's tournaments, the rink dimensions will be 60×26 meters, while the standard NHL rink size is 60.96×25.9 meters.

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has approved the rink sizes for the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, which comply with the organization's standards and were used in November during two NHL club matches in Stockholm featuring the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators.

The IIHF switched to NHL-sized rinks for the Olympics in 2018 and used them again in 2022. NHL players will participate in the Olympics for the first time since 2014 at the Games in February next year.

"Although these dimensions differ slightly from typical NHL arenas, they comply with IIHF rules, were used at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, and fully meet the NHL's requirements for the venues hosting its Global Series games," the federation stated. "All parties — IIHF, the organizing committee, NHL, NHL Players' Association (NHLPA), the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and venue representatives — reached a consensus that the differences in size are insignificant and should not affect player safety or the quality of the games."

At the 1998, 2006, and 2014 Olympics, hockey was played on standard IIHF ice — 60×30 meters, with minor differences in 2002 in Salt Lake City. In Vancouver in 2010, NHL ice was used due to existing venues.

"The conditions are the same for all teams, and I think that’s the main thing," said the general manager of the Finnish men's national team, Jere Lehtinen, to the Associated Press. "Perhaps our coaches will find it more interesting and will have to pay more attention to certain details."

Canada's general manager Doug Armstrong first mentioned that the ice dimensions differ slightly from standard NHL sizes in a podcast in early September and raised the issue again in October. One of the Canadian team's coaches, Peter DeBoer, also recently touched on this topic in a radio broadcast, questioning why the ice does not match NHL dimensions.

In February, the rink sizes will be the same in both hockey venues — the main arena, which is still under construction, and the temporary one located in the exhibition center.

The construction of the new 16,000-seat arena — the Santangeli Arena — on the outskirts of Milan is still ongoing. Organizers emphasize that they do not have a "Plan B."

The test tournament had to be moved to the ice arena in Ro. New test events in the main arena are not planned until January 9–11 — less than a month before the Olympics begin. On Friday, just three days before the start of the IIHF U-20 World Championship Division B, which will serve as a test tournament, workers continued to carry out final work at the arena in Ro.

"We are aware that they are slightly behind schedule, but we expect everything to be ready," said Bruce Cassidy, assistant coach of the Canadian men's national team, last week.

The Olympic men's hockey tournament will take place from February 11 to 22. The women's tournament will be held from February 5 to 19.

The Latvian national team will also participate in the men's tournament, having been placed in Group C and will play in Milan against the teams from the USA, Germany, and Denmark.