Team Canada connects at spectacular Ice Palazzo set up for athletes, families in Milan

MILAN -- Is this Italy or Canada?

It’s both at the Hockey Canada Ice Palazzo, a home away from home for Team Canada hockey players, speed skaters, figure skaters and their families that opened Tuesday at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

The families of the women’s hockey team gathered there in the afternoon before bussing to Santagiulia Arena to watch the women’s game against Team USA, which ended in a 5-0 loss. The men’s hockey team gathered there at night to watch the women’s game on a giant screen.

“It’s very well done,” said defenseman Thomas Harley, as he watched the women’s game with teammate Seth Jarvis. “They put a lot of time and effort into this, and it’ll be a great spot for families to come before and after the game to hang out and get ready to go.”

The Canadian Olympic Committee normally sets up a “house” like this at the Olympics. But these Winter Games have multiple hubs, and hockey, speed skating and figure skating are the only events in Milan. So, Hockey Canada decided to create the “palazzo.”

You’ve got to see it to believe it.

The venue is a theater in the city of Milan, but it’s more than a theater. It has multiple event spaces surrounding a courtyard with a swimming pool. In the winter, an ice rink floats on a raft on the water.

Hockey Canada transformed it for the family programs -- 550 people in hockey, 100 in speed skating and 75 in figure skating -- and will use it to host business partners and officials from the NHL and International Ice Hockey Federation.

“We saw pictures of this going way, way back when they said they found an area, and it was nothing like that,” said Jim Nill, who is part of the men’s hockey management group. “And Hockey Canada’s done this with everything. With our dressing room, this situation, it’s amazing what they’ve done.”

Walk into the entrance, and you feel like you’re checking into an upscale hotel. There’s a front desk with a Hockey Canada logo -- in gold, of course. Behind it is a huge piece of art, depicting Canadians skating on a frozen mountain lake.

Make a right, then a quick left, and …

Wow.

You come to a long narrow hallway bathed in red light with white lights dangling from above. The floors and the far wall look like old Italian mosaics except with maple leaf designs and a logo for the palazzo.

Doors line each side, each decorated with the names and photos of Canadian Olympic heroes, including hockey players like Mario Lemieux, Scott Niedermayer, Sidney Crosby and Marie-Philip Poulin.

As center Connor McDavid walked in -- wearing a Team Canada jacket, hands stuffed in his pants pockets -- he studied the photos as the Tragically Hip played in the background. Not long afterward, coach Jon Cooper walked in and did the same.

“How do you combine the idea of red carpet and a locker room?” said Dean McIntosh, senior vice president of revenue, fan engagement and community for Hockey Canada. “We wanted people to feel like they’re walking through a Hall of Fame or a locker room of past champions, with a really Italian, Canadian authentic feel.”

Turn left, then left again, and there is the giant screen showing Olympic events in a room with a Canadian flag on the ceiling and more photos of Canadian Olympic heroes on the walls, including Wayne Gretzky in Nagano in 1998, the first Olympics to include NHL players. There are comfortable places to sit, plus food and drink.

“We want them to enjoy the game,” McIntosh said. “We want them to enjoy the Olympics with the other families as well, because there’s been so few times where men’s and women’s hockey come together, or even the other sports come together. … This is the one place they can go four, five hours before the game, enjoy the game together, watch the other sports, but also grab a bite to eat and enjoy company.”

Outside the room is the courtyard with a glowing red Canada sign, a Hockey Canada ice sculpture, Muskoka chairs, mini hockey nets and cornhole sets. The ice rink is decorated with “GO CANADA GO!” and “ALLEZ CANADA!” on the boards, and there is a shed with skates and helmets to borrow.

“When the families do come here, they feel it’s a safe place to be,” McIntosh said. “Their kids can also enjoy it. That’s really important.”

But there’s more. To the right of the courtyard is a glass room with food, drink and a floor that looks like a hockey rink. A musician is singing and playing the guitar wearing a Canada hockey jersey. Inside and downstairs is yet another room with more food and drink.

Everywhere there are little touches. “OH CANADA” on the floor. “FROM CANADA, FOR CANADA!” and “WORLD IS WATCHING” on the walls. Gelato for a taste of Italy. Tim Hortons coffee for a taste of home.

“It’s trying to be a private space where they feel comfortable going, but it’s also fun to be around family and just relax,” McIntosh said. “We’re thrilled to be a Canadian home in the middle of Milan.”