The Canadian ice expert faced with making Olympic hockey arena playable

Chris Jones reports from Italy ahead of the Milano Cortina Olympics.

Don Moffatt, the “ice master” reluctantly drawn into the spotlight at the Milano Santagiulia hockey arena, began his relationship with the game and its surface like so many young Canadians: watching his dad flood their backyard rink in Peterborough, Ont., his wide eyes reflected in the shimmering ice.

The 67-year-old has since become an internationally renowned expert in ice and its fickle tendencies. He’s now making the ice at his fifth Winter Olympics — the toughest challenge of his long career.

Construction delays meant that Moffatt couldn’t begin building his latest rink until just before Christmas, the sparks from welders dancing around him when he began his first pour.

Normally, ice gets tested for months, even years, before it’s used in high-level competition. Moffatt’s latest creation was less than three weeks old when several Italian teams skated on it this weekend, watched closely by the NHL and nervous hockey fans around the world.

Three games were played on Saturday, an attempt to mimic Olympic-size demands. The ice held up relatively well considering the pressure on it. Coverage of a small hole during Friday’s opening game went viral, and the green watering can used to fix it became the latest character in the ongoing arena saga.

The NHL is expected to announce on Sunday whether it will release its players for their first Olympics since 2014.

Organizers have expressed confidence that the best players in the world will be in Milan in February. “100 per cent,” Andrea Francisi, the chief games operations officer, said rink side on Friday.

But Moffatt is aware that his ice will determine whether the men’s tournament in fact goes ahead. A