Accredited Edmonton Oilers reporter and PHWA member reporting on the latest sports news in the Alberta capital.

Don&#8217;t expect the drama around Olympic hockey rinks to drop off anytime soon.
The Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic hockey rink situation <a href="https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/milan-olympic-hockey-arena-better-than-ever" target="_blank">made headlines</a> in the lead-up to the Games. Worry around whether or not construction was going to be finished in time for hockey games to be played reached a fever pitch before ultimately going off without a hitch.
You may think that this type of controversy can be avoided with the French Alps 2030 Winter Olympics a healthy four years away, but you shouldn&#8217;t count on that just yet. Plans for the 2030 Olympic hockey venue are already creating quite a buzz.
The plan right now is to split the Allianz Riviera stadium in half, converting the soccer venue into two separate ice rinks on each side of the pitch. These would then share duties, hosting both the men&#8217;s and women&#8217;s ice hockey tournaments.
Daily Faceoff&#8217;s Ben Steiner shared some concept art of the idea on X.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
If you think the Milan Cortina 2026 hockey arenas have had issues… this is the plan for French Alps 2030.
Two rinks, width wise on the soccer pitch at at Stade De Nice with 17,000 seats each. 
Going to be quite the test. <a href="https://t.co/OIgMttJFH0">pic.twitter.com/OIgMttJFH0</a>
&mdash; Ben Steiner (@BenSteiner00) <a href="https://twitter.com/BenSteiner00/status/2019070440736448552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
A partition wall in the middle of the pitch is expected to split up the two rinks, with additional seating placed against the wall. Overall, seating capacity for each side of the makeshift ice rinks is anticipated to house 17,000 seats per rink.
This is an open-air stadium, but there are reports that the plan is to install a temporary roof over the stadium to ensure the temperature remains right for ice conditions. Allianz Riviera was opened in 2013 and is home to the Ligue 1 soccer club OGC Nice.
This is not a new development for the 2030 Games, with the idea to split the soccer pitch in two being shared by Nice city council, <a href="https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/societe/le-stade-allianz-a-nice-accueillera-deux-patinoires-pour-les-jo-d-hiver-de-2030-9472575" target="_blank">announcing these plans back in October 2024</a>.
Here is a look at some schematics for the potential stadium transformation:
<div id="attachment_2247247" style="width: 1533px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://dailyhive.com/controversy-2030-olympic-hockey-arena/2030-olympic-arena/" rel="attachment wp-att-2247247"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2247247" class="size-full wp-image-2247247" src="https://images-dh-production-baselayer.dailyhive.com/uploads/2026/02/2030-Olympic-arena.webp" alt="2030-Olympic arena." width="1523" height="921" srcset="https://images-dh-production-baselayer.dailyhive.com/uploads/2026/02/2030-Olympic-arena.webp 1523w, https://images-dh-production-baselayer.dailyhive.com/uploads/2026/02/2030-Olympic-arena-500x302.webp 500w, https://images-dh-production-baselayer.dailyhive.com/uploads/2026/02/2030-Olympic-arena-1024x619.webp 1024w, https://images-dh-production-baselayer.dailyhive.com/uploads/2026/02/2030-Olympic-arena-1200x726.webp 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1523px) 100vw, 1523px" /></a>Ferg Consulting</div>
Plenty of potential problems could arise from such an ambitious plan. Essentially, this means that every Olympic hockey game played in 2030 will essentially be in conditions akin to a Winter Classic, with the only difference being a temporary roof overhead.
It&#8217;s certainly a unique idea, and one that will bring about many concerns in terms of ice conditions and the feasibility of hosting an entire Olympic ice hockey tournament in a soccer tournament.
Of course, these kinds of things are always subject to change, with the 2030 Olympics still four years away. Still, it&#8217;s an interesting plan if organizers choose to stick with it.
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Don't expect the drama around Olympic hockey rinks to drop off anytime soon, as the 2030 Games might be held in a soccer stadium.