Report: Ice safety confirms could lead to NHL players pulling out of the Olympics

Bill Daly, the league's deputy commissioner, told owners Monday that if the ice in the host arena isn't safe, NHL players simply «won't take part.»

The root of the problem is the arena still isn't finished, and the surface itself reportedly comes up short of NHL standards. The sheet has been approved at 196.85 feet by 85.3 feet, more than three feet shorter than the usual 200-by-85 regulation used in the NHL.

Daly admitted the league only recently realized the discrepancy during its site visits and inspections, lacking «perceptible» signs of trouble until now.
The league and the NHL Players' Association (NHLPA) have offered their own ice technicians and experts to try to bring conditions up to par.

Players may now be watching from afar instead of lining up for Olympic rosters. Some inside the league believe this could mark a serious setback for the NHL's hopes of a long-term commitment to global play. That's not an outcome most of us fans were expecting.

Still, even with tension rising, Daly said he remains «cautiously optimistic» the arena can be made safe in time, and that the Olympic event window-Feb. 5 for women's hockey and Feb. 11 for men's-remains theoretically achievable, but there's absolutely zero room for error.

While the arena's roster plans remain at a standstill, it seems as though Team Canada's Olympic roster decisions are on the same route.

Only if Milan delivers a completed, safe rink will the NHL's big names get back on Olympic ice. For now the promise of «best on best» international hockey remains on hold.