By Frank Pingue
TORONTO, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Canadian standout Connor McDavid and a number of his NHL peers are not concerned that the ice rinks for the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympics will be smaller than
what they are used to playing on.
When NHL players mark their return to the Olympics for the first time since 2014, they will do so on sheets of ice that are more than three feet shorter than the NHL's standard layout and slightly wider.
Given the high speed and intensity of the game, the smaller playing surfaces sparked 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 for a recent NHL game. "Not a big deal. Obviously, you want the ice to be good, you'd like the ice quality to be good. The size of it doesn't matter."
'WE'LL PLAY ANYWHERE'
The International Ice Hockey Federation said in a statement last week that the differences in rink specifications are "insignificant" and should not impact either the safety or quality of game play.
The IIHF also said the ice surfaces match the size used at the 2022 Beijing Olympics and are consistent with the dimensions the NHL requires as part of its Global Series Game arena specifications.
Auston Matthews, who has secured a spot on Team USA, said he did not notice a difference when he played on a smaller rink in Sweden two years ago as part of the NHL Global Series.
"Obviously, you want the conditions to be as similar to NHL as possible and the ice conditions to be as good as possible," Matthews told Reuters. "But in the end I don't think anybody really cares (about the size).
"We'll play anywhere. It's just the honor of being able to compete in the Olympics is pretty surreal."
ADAPT QUICKLY
The presence of NHL players at the Olympics makes the men's ice hockey tournament one of the marquee events of the global sporting showcase and news of smaller rinks took the hockey world by surprise.
John Tavares, who won a gold medal with Canada in 2014 and is hoping to make the roster for Milano-Cortina, told Reuters that while it would be better to have NHL-sized rinks at the Olympics it is not a concern.
"The good thing is the dimensions and all those things are the same size for both teams,” said Tavares. “Eventually I think guys adapt pretty quickly, especially when you are talking about the best players in the world."
For Leon Draisaitl, who will make his Olympic debut next year after being named to Germany's preliminary roster, the quality of the ice that will have multiple games each day when the tournament begins is more important than the dimensions.
“I don’t care about it, it’s fine," Draisaitl told Reuters. "I think the quality (is more important) but either way it's the Olympics, we'll make it work.”
Mattias Ekholm, an assistant captain for Sweden at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February who is hoping to make the Olympic roster, told Reuters he would need to experience the shorter rink himself.
"It's almost one of those where you think about it and you're like 'well two feet is not going to do much difference' but when you get there maybe it does," said Ekholm. "I have no idea."
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Ed Osmond)
