The Athletic Hockey Show: Olympic Ice Passes Test Weekend, But Barely

Date: January 12, 2026
Hosts: Max Boltman, Mark Lazarus
Special Guests: Chris Johnson (reporting from Milan), Arpin Basu

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the precarious state of the Milan Olympic hockey venue, following a critical test weekend just four weeks before the Games. The hosts analyze both the condition of the Olympic ice and the unfinished arena, with on-site reporting from Chris Johnson. Later, the show shifts to a thorough discussion of the intensely competitive Atlantic Division, featuring Arpin Basu’s perspective on the scramble for playoff spots and the evolution of rebuilding teams like Montreal and Detroit. The episode closes with thoughtful takes on rumor culture in hockey, data reliability issues, and how the league tracks team performance.

Key Segments & Timestamps

1. Olympic Ice Test: Disaster Averted, But Just Barely (02:49–22:48)

With: Chris Johnson (on site in Milan)

Major Discussion Points

• Milan Olympic Rink’s First Test

  • Seven games played in 51 hours with manageable ice, but the arena remains far from finished.
  • Luke Tardif, IIHF president: "The third game at the end the puck was still sliding, so that's a good test." (04:00)
    • Mark Lazarus: “Is that how low the bar has gotten?”
    • Chris Johnson: “That is where we're at… They're celebrating the ice, because that was the one thing that truly could have derailed this entire project.” (04:00-05:24)
  • Early games saw a striking incident: a “giant hole” in the ice delayed play, an experience even veteran Johnson had never witnessed. (06:00)
    • JC: “[A worker] had a big green watering can and was applying water out of the watering can to that exact spot on the ice.” (06:00)

• Arena Construction Chaos

  • Concessions: None inside; food trucks outside serve fans.
  • Dressing rooms: Only 3 of 14 started, 11 not even drywalled. “Teams… need a place to put their gear… we have to start 11 of them.” (09:06)
  • Practice rink: Unusable just weeks out; lines only newly painted on practice ice, “a cord sticking up through the ice.” (09:06)
  • Media & Scoreboard: Media tribune not finished, safety bars missing in upper deck, and current scoreboard “as small as the one in my home rink in Coburg.” (09:06-13:59)
  • “If you were a project manager… I don't even know where you would start to prioritize what needs to be finished.” (09:06)

• Comparisons to Prior Olympics

  • Sochi’s facilities were completed well ahead of time—even if hotels weren’t—while Milan’s rink is “unprecedented in the scale of an actual facility that’s going to get to host one of the marquee events.” (14:30)
  • Only precedent: Turin 2006, another close Italian Olympic call.

• Will It Work?

  • “Players will play at a mall somewhere… The only way this doesn't happen is if the players say we won’t play. What has to happen for that to happen?” (17:27)
    • Chris Johnson: “I think it's all the ice at this stage… They can navigate their way around not having their normal creature comforts… The only thing that could derail this is if the ice was not safe enough.” (17:51)

• Closing Thoughts

  • Max: “The talk about the ice is all in service of preparing us… this might not be what we’re used to seeing.”
  • Mark: “This is the Olympics, man. More often than not… things are done at the very last minute.” (20:35)

Memorable Quotes:

“I might never have been in an arena where it was literally the first time someone was skating on newly made ice.” — Chris Johnson (06:00)
“There’s going to be food trucks outside instead of concession stands. It’s going to be a mess. And we all have to go into there knowing it’s going to be a mess and that, hopefully, the hockey is so good that none of us will mind.” — Mark Lazarus (21:19)

2. The Atlantic Division’s Historic Logjam (25:00–59:06)

With: Arpin Basu

Major Discussion Points

• Atlantic Division’s Parity and Stakes

  • Red Wings lead but by razor-thin margins; seven of eight clubs have real playoff hopes.
  • “You go into one bad stretch, and next thing you know you’re last in the division and like four points out of second to last, which is Florida, the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion.” — Arpin Basu (25:51)

• The Urgency of Every Point

  • “Every game that you can win, in regulation in particular, feels massive right now… it adds a level of stress. … You’re not supposed to walk into a game in early January and be like, wow, this is a huge game.” — Basu (27:48)

• Is It Parity or Mediocrity?

  • “Every one of these teams except for Tampa Bay… you can find a major flaw with them right now. … This feels like Tampa Bay and a bunch of mediocre teams.” — Mark Lazarus (29:29)

• Changing of the Guard: Rebuilders on the Rise

  • Atlantic is split: “Half the division has a window that’s closing, and half the division has a window that’s opening.” — Basu (32:03)
  • Montreal, Detroit, Buffalo, Ottawa positioned to flip soon as the new powers.

• Montreal’s Fast-Tracked Rebuild

  • Basu details the Canadiens’ strategic focus on acquiring NHL-ready talent and “not simply going after draft picks,” aggressive, layered approach; still ahead of schedule (35:36–47:11).
  • “All of your core is between the ages of 22 and 28… that’s kind of what they have going on.” — Basu (38:47)

• Cautionary Tales & Copycat League

  • “For a GM to take the Montreal method or the Florida method, really, he has to really put himself out there. And I don’t think most GMs are willing to do that.” — Lazarus (42:44)
  • Owners want hope—but want it sold fast and responsibly.

• Advanced Stats, Public Data, and the Eye Test

  • The group questions public data reliability as puck tracking technology mutates the numbers. (49:12–54:18)
  • “It’s getting harder and harder to believe the numbers… we’re almost regressing to the eye test.” — Mark Lazarus (51:01)
  • “Expected goal to a team like Montreal… is not the same as to a team like Anaheim or Columbus.” — Basu (53:21)

3. NHL Scoring System & Overtime Debate (61:01–62:53)

• Regulation Losses, Overtime, and Loser Point Debate
  • Montreal gets a ‘profile lift’ by measuring regulation losses rather than standings points.
  • “Three-on-three is not hockey. … It is, there’s an element of randomness to it. It’s more hockey than the shootout, I suppose, but it’s still not hockey.” — Mark Lazarus (62:19)

4. Rumor Culture & Sensationalism in Hockey (63:33–69:54)

• Ottawa Senators Statement and Rumor Fallout
  • A rumor spirals online about a player’s absence, prompting the club to issue a strong denial.
  • Mark reflects on his experiences in Chicago: “These kinds of things… weigh on a player. When your family gets dragged into this stuff, it weighs on you… These guys are only human.” (64:14)
  • Max: “The solution is not to just make up a reason or buy the first reason that is put in front of you.” (66:47)
  • Is addressing a rumor publicly the right call? “It’s a no-win situation.” — Lazarus (68:53)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “If you don't have ice, you don't have a tournament. The NHL players want to play and they will play on almost any condition possible.” — Mark Lazarus (03:28)
• “It was stunning… to walk into that arena for the first time and see where it’s at less than four weeks from the Games.” — Chris Johnson (05:04)
• On data: “We’re almost regressing to the eye test. Yeah, the gap is widening between the public data and the proprietary stuff the teams use.” — Mark Lazarus/Arpin Basu (51:01–51:20)
• “This division is in the process of flipping… what the Atlantic was, is kind of what the Central is now.” — Arpin Basu (33:57)
• “Players will play at a mall somewhere if they have to… The only thing that could really derail this is if the ice was not safe enough.” — Chris Johnson (17:27)

Tone & Style

Conversational, candid, and knowledgeable, balancing humor (often about the venue chaos) with genuine expertise, particularly regarding the Atlantic Division and hockey analytics. There is clear camaraderie and a lively pace, especially as the discussion bounces between breaking news, deeper hockey trends, and pressing current events.

Episode Takeaways

• The Milan Olympic hockey venue's ice can barely meet standards, but the unfinished state of the arena underscores massive challenges; only unsafe ice will keep NHLers away.
• The Atlantic Division is the NHL’s most competitive and interesting, not because of overwhelming quality but because of simultaneous rebuilds rising as old powers struggle to hang on.
• Montreal’s aggressive, layered rebuild could be a league model, but also carries risks absent from “total teardown” approaches seen elsewhere.
• Public hockey stats are less reliable as data and methods change, pushing even insiders back toward the eye test.
• Social media-fueled rumors are nearly impossible to contain once they start, and clubs face damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t choices in addressing them.

For additional detail, see the full timestamps referenced above.