Sawt Falasteen - Rink issues resolved, NHL stars chase Olympic gold at Milan

The world's top players will compete in Italy after the elite North American league agreed to a mid-season shutdown and issues of ice quality and rink size were sorted in January.

"I am 100% confident in the field of play," Winter Olympics Ice Master Don Moffatt told KOAA television in Colordo Springs, Colorado.

The Canadian who serves as chief ice maker in Milan said his fifth Olympic assignment "has been by far my hardest," calling it a "huge challenge" to work around construction crews but saying he was "happy and satisfied" with the ice at Santagiulia Arena.

Concerns about the rink being three feet shorter than the typical NHL playing surfaces have also been allayed, the NHL Players Association (NHLPA) saying it would not greatly impact play and noting it was the same size as the 2022 Beijing Olympics rink and one used in Sweden for NHL games earlier this season.

A small hole in the ice developed during a January tuneup match, but it was termed a minor detail in line with past ice making and testing and solved by a watering can.

The NHL and NHLPA approved players to compete in Italy, saying they expect organizers, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Ice Hockey Federation to "deliver a tournament and playing conditions befitting the world's best players."

"We expect everything that needs to be done on a timely basis will get done," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said.

IOC official Christophe Dubi said on Sunday all of the scheduled games at the arena would "absolutely" go ahead, although he admitted some areas were unfinished but insisted it would not impact players, fans or the media.

As Canadian forward Brad Marchant of the reigning NHL champion Florida Panthers said, "Guys don't care. No one has talked about it. No one is worried about it."

- USA, Canada fancied -

Canada earned the role of Olympic favorite by winning last year's NHL Four Nations Faceoff, beating the United States in an emotional final after Sweden and Finland lost in the semi-finals.

The Americans, however, hope to capture their first Olympic men's gold since the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" in Lake Placid.

Most of the US and Canadian rosters include players from the Four Nations event, which was highlighted by a tension-packed round-robin US-Canada showdown in Montreal featuring three fights in the first nine seconds.

"I think it's going to be even more intense (at the Olympics)," Florida forward Matthew Tkachuk of the United States said.

Politics spiced the melee with Canadian fans booing the US anthem after US President Donald Trump said he wanted Canada as a 51st state and imposed tariffs on the USA's northern neighbors.

Group A features Canada, France, Switzerland and Czech Republic while Group B includes Sweden, defending champion Finland, Italy and Slovakia and Group C has the United States, Germany, Denmark and Latvia.

Three group winners and the best runner-up team advance to the quarter-finals while the other eight clubs play in the opening round of the knockout stage.

The Canadians feature Colorado forward Nathan MacKinnon, the 2024 NHL Most Valuable Player and this season's goals leader, and Edmonton's Connor McDavid, a three-time NHL MVP who ranks second in goals and first in assists just ahead of MacKinnon.

A mix of youth and experience features 19-year-old forward Macklin Celebrini of San Jose and 38-year-old Pittsburgh star Sidney Crosby, a two-time NHL MVP who scored the golden goal for Canada in the 2010 Vancouver final.

The American roster includes Toronto star Auston Matthews, Vegas' Jack Eichel, New Jersey's Jack Hughes, Buffalo's Tage Thompson and brothers Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, whose father Keith was on the 2002 USA silver-medal squad.

"I never really expected it to be a dream come true," Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk said of reaching his Olympic dream alongside his sibling.

"The fact we're going to be able to do it on the top level, both being Olympians, it's more than a dream."

NHL talent is featured on almost every Olympic roster, the Czechs including Boston's David Pastrnak, the NHL 2020 goal scoring leader, and Germany boasting Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl, the 2020 NHL MVP and last season's top goal scorer.

L.Hussein--SF-PST