Olympics complete major change to arena after player complaints
Photo credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
Following complaints from the NHL and NHLPA, the IIHF has agreed to change the color of the boards at the Santagiulia arena effective immediately.
Long-distance goal attributed to bad boards
"It's something all of us always have to face, and we play in different arenas every night in the NHL," Swayman said. "So this is just another one and a challenge we'll have to embrace."
You might recall when Canada's goalie Jeremy Swayman allowed a goal from center-ice, after appearing to lose sight of the puck.
This has resulted in the IIHF taking action to correct what was seen as a problem.
Now, the IIHF refreshes the boards mid-way through tournaments because of wear and tear. This time, the change was necessary following a joint decision from the IIHF, IOC and Milan Cortina organizing committee.
The issue with the boards was the color, which has since been changes to a lighter blue and green from the deep turquoise that was causing players to lose sight of the puck along the boards.
It's not the first time we're hearing about issues at Santagiulia. Much has been made about the smaller ice surface, though it hasn't really impacted the games, not substantially at least.
Santagiulia Arena was built for the 2026 Olympics and will be hosting all the medal games for both the men's and women's hockey tournaments.
As far as the goal that Swayman allowed, well, it happens, dark-colored boards or not, though Jack Eichel believes otherwise.
"Nine times out of 10 -- or 99 times out of 100 -- he's going to have that," USA forward Jack Eichel said. "It's a crazy play. I don't know, I lost the puck up in the lights a few times tonight as well. The setting is a little bit different."
We'll now see if the new colors make a difference in the medal round.
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