MILAN — Banners at Milan’s Santa Giulia Stadium are expected to be changed to lighter colors following feedback from players and the NHL, multiple NHL sources confirmed Monday night. ESPN’s Emily Kaplan first reported.
League sources said the new banners are expected to be put up in time for Wednesday’s quarterfinals. Stadium staff appear to inspect boards on the ice ahead of Monday afternoon’s U.S.-Sweden women’s semifinal game in Santa Giulia.
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The banners are replaced all the time due to wear and tear, but players and NHL officials pointed out to the IOC that the dark green color, especially in different areas of the board, could cause vision problems when looking for black pucks.
During the U.S.-Denmark game, U.S. goaltender Jeremy Silverman said he couldn’t see the puck being fired toward him from near the Danish bench.
“It was a flash screen that was the perfect height between the stands and board level, and I really lost it,” he said.
CBC and NBC broadcasters wondered loudly during the telecast whether Swayman had lost the puck because of the color of the boards near the puck’s shot.
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To his credit, Swayman didn’t use that as an excuse, joking after the game that he was color blind anyway, so it didn’t matter to him anyway.
“It’s something that we all have to deal with, we’re playing in different arenas every night in the NHL, so it’s just one, another, challenge that we have to accept,” Swayman said.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Olympic Games, Men’s Olympic Hockey, Women’s Olympic Hockey, NHL, Olympic Games, Women’s Olympic
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