The rink for this coming February’s Olympic hockey tournament in Milan, Italy will reportedly be 3 feet shorter and 3 inches wider than the NHL’s regulation size of 200 feet long and 85 feet wide.
The rink isn’t yet finished. Construction is behind schedule.
But the bigger concern is the rink’s dimensions.
For no good reason.
Overreaction is plentiful, because that’s what hockey people do. But there is zero additional risk playing hockey on a rink that’s 3 feet shorter. Nor will the style of play be compromised. Hold your hands 3 feet apart. Do you think that length makes a difference?
It’s not surprising to see the International Olympics Committee make such a blunder. Hockey is just a small fraction of the Olympics, not the be-all, end-all.
But, again, it’s not a significant blunder. No big deal at all.
But TNT analyst Paul Bissonnette is saying “Olympic hockey should be played in North America.”
Right. The IOC will split hockey off from Milan Cortina and move it to North America because of a 3-feet difference in rink size. Play Olympic hockey at a venue Bissonnette would be comfortable with. Like WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, W.Va.
The overreaction is far from over.
Rough-and-tumble hockey types were enamored with the physicality of last February’s 4 Nations Face-Off.
The Milan’s rink very slightly smaller dimensions are a good bet to influence those choosing the teams for the U.S. and Canada to go big, bigger, biggest.
Canada might choose hulking Washington miscreant Tom Wilson, who currently has one more point than Sidney Crosby. The U.S. could breed a few more Tkachuk brothers.
The Olympics have never been that kind of tournament.
But, hey, the rink is 3 feet shorter. That changes the whole game, right?
Uh, no.
I’m betting on Sweden. The Swedes won’t let this rink foolishness affect their team’s composition. They’ll just pick their best players.
Russia is banned because of its war with Ukraine. Their absence invalidates the tournament’s result.
It’s not “best on best” when one of hockey’s two most accomplished powers is missing.
Hey, what’s the U.S. doing in Venezuela right now? Some directive about “kill them all.” Is that a new method of forechecking?
The U.S. team might be an odd study.
Too many seem too enamored with what happened at 4 Nations, the train-wreck mentality of the U.S. team, especially the round-robin game vs. Canada that featured three fights in the first nine seconds. (Fighting at the Olympic hockey tournament calls for immediate ejection plus possible suspension. 4 Nations was directly administered by the NHL.)
It was exciting in a Neanderthal way.
But not a showcase for hockey’s speed and skill.
At day’s end, all the U.S. did was finish second in a four-team tournament.
U.S. wingers Brady and Matthew Tkachuk approach every shift like a five-car pileup. Their effect is undeniable. But Brady has only played six games for Ottawa so far this season. Matthew has played none for Florida. The Tkachuks get hurt a lot.
The U.S. tipped its priorities in last year’s 4 Nations final, scratching Kyle Connor and dressing a half-crippled Matthew Tkachuk. Connor has scored 30 or more goals seven times in the NHL but…toughness.
Especially on a rink 3 feet shorter than regulation. There’s not going to be any room out there!
(The U.S. staff is the same for the Olympics as it was for the 4 Nations, including GM Bill Guerin and coach Mike Sullivan, both ex- of the Penguins organization.)
My litmus test for the U.S. revolves around West Mifflin native Logan Cooley.
Cooley, 21, has 14 goals and nine assists in 28 games for Utah and seems an obvious pick for the U.S. team.
If Cooley makes it, the U.S. is focused on the here and now, and has picked its best team.
If an old-timey lifetime-achievement guy like Patrick Kane makes it, the U.S. doesn’t get it.
Oh, wait, I forgot…the rink is 3 feet shorter.
That changes everything.
As Guerin said, “If you can’t check, it’s probably not the tournament for you. There’s just no room out there.” And that was before we knew about the Milan rink’s undersized dimensions.
Did Cooley have a backyard rink growing up in West Mifflin? How big was it?