It Looks Like NHL Players Are Going To Have To Bring Some Power Tools With Them To The Olympics And Finish Building The Locker Rooms Themsevles
We are now less than a month away from the start of the 2026 Winter Olympics, and we have drywall guys still hanging some rock in the locker rooms. Anybody who has ever worked with a contractor before knows this exact stage of the build. We're at the "fuck you, you're on our time now" stage. They have just enough material in there to have you by the balls, and work on whatever timeframe they see fit. We have past the point of no return. The wheels are in motion, but there's no telling just how quickly those wheels will be turning. You'll show up to this locker room every day for the next 6 days, and it'll look exactly the same. Then one day, the guys working will drink an extra white can Monster, and they'll finish the ceiling. Then it'll rain for the next week and they say they can't come in to work.
The fact of the matter here is that this shit ain't getting done until the very last moment. Connor McDavid is going to be lacing up his skates for Canada's first game of the tournament as the final screw is drilled into those locker rooms. And even calling these "locker rooms" is still going to be a stretch once they are done.
ESPN -- "Players have already been told that the accommodations aren't what they're used to in the NHL. The locker rooms are mobile trailers, and players must walk across a mat to get to the ice -- similar to the temporary setup the Arizona Coyotes had while playing at Mullett Arena.
...While hockey players insist immersing with other athletes at the village is part of the Olympic spirit, those accommodations are certainly lesser than the luxury hotels NHL teams stay in. Some federations are already looking into sourcing their own supplementary meals in case the food options in the Olympic Village don't meet their athletes' nutritional standards."
You've got the best hockey players on the planet getting changed in a mobile trailer, taking a walk around the block to get to the ice, and eating some cheese toast sandwiches as their pre-game meals. Now that I think about it, maybe Olympic hockey was better suited for all those ECHL guys who got a chance to play in the past 2 Olympics. The last time any of these NHL superstars played in a tournament with this poor of accommodations would have been never. You think Shattuck St. Mary's is making their guys get dressed in a storage unit?
And all of this Fyre Fest takes place before the teams ever get out on the ice. It's no wonder Team Canada decided to add Tom Wilson to the roster, because he's the only one whose game isn't going to get impacted by this sheet of ice that looks like it was poured by somebody's drunk uncle.
If that's what the ice looks like when it's fresh, I can only imagine what it's going to look like after 5 teams get done practicing on it in one day. My guess is Italy doesn't even know what a Zamboni is. They just send Luigi out there with the hose. Get ready for some whacky bounces, folks.