Olympics-Ice hockey-NHL players adapt to business-not-as-usual in Milan

By Amy Tennery

MILAN, Feb 10 (Reuters) – National Hockey League stars are adapting to different rinks, rules and routines at the Milano Cortina Games, where rivals-turned-team mates will compete for gold beginning on Wednesday after the NHL’s 12-year absence from the Olympics.

The tournament is a dream come true for players who had to wait to compete in the Games after the NHL opted out in 2018 and 2022 – even as it obliterates the tightly choreographed daily routine for many of the league’s multimillion-dollar stars.

“In the NHL there’s routine,” said Finland’s Sebastian Aho, a prolific scorer for the Carolina Hurricanes.

“You skate in the morning at the same time, you play most of the time (at the) same time, you know every rink, you know all the players. I’m not saying it’s easy at all, but at least it’s familiar.”

SCARCE TIME TO ADAPT

The NHL began its Olympic break on Friday, less than a week before the men’s tournament was set to kick off on Wednesday.

That leaves scarce time for players to adapt to new team mates and Olympic playing surfaces that are shorter than a typical NHL rink, as well as the International Ice Hockey Federation’s slightly gentler approach to the game.

“The rules are a little different here. Obviously it’s important that you don’t take penalties or sit in the box,” said forward Sam Bennett, who was a late addition to the Canadian roster.

Fighting, a staple in the bone-crunching world of the NHL, has long been strictly prohibited in IIHF competition and players are going into the Games aware of the constraints they face in Milan.

“Everyone’s cognisant of it and thinking about it but also at the same time you still want to play with that same edge,” said American Brock Nelson, a centre for the Colorado Avalanche.

COACHES SEEK PRE-TOURNEY CALM

The return of NHL stars to the Olympics for the first time since 2014 has proven one of the big stories of these Games, with reporters swarming practices – when allowed.

A few teams at the built-from-scratch Santagiulia Arena complex closed some of their practices to reporters in the days leading up to the tournament, including favourites Canada on Monday.

“It was only done because the rink’s too small,” Canada coach Jon Cooper told the dozens of reporters who were packed shoulder-to-shoulder inside the smaller practice facility adjacent to the main arena for a post-practice media availability.

“It’s just distractions and people, there’s just issues to have so many people here,” he said of the practice rink.

Sweden head coach Sam Hallam said the option to close a practice offered a small measure of serenity inside the Olympic cauldron.

“Sometimes it’s just nice to have that calmness,” Hallam told reporters on Tuesday, a day before his team kicks off its Olympic campaign against hosts Italy.

“It’s no mysteries, we’re not going to invent something new out there. But just keeping it a bit calm is nice.”

(Reporting by Amy Tennery in Milan; Editing by Bill Berkrot)