The NHL said Tuesday it remains cautiously optimistic about sending the world's best hockey players to the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in February amid issues with a smaller-than-expected rink size and questions regarding ice quality due to construction delays.

Deputy commissioner Bill Daly reiterated that belief in an email to The Associated Press a day after briefing the NHL’s board of governors on the Olympics during their meeting in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

“We’re making progress and moving towards the goal, but there doesn’t seem to be anything insurmountable in getting to completion,” Daly told reporters on Monday.

Daly said there’s nothing the NHL or organizers can do about the dimensions of the not-yet-completed 16,000-seat Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena and secondary Rho fac

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