Anyone who has ever done any building or renovation work has been there.
You write out your plans, you measure everything out and then, after you put everything together, you realise you got one of the lengths wrong.
But imagine that instead of that planter box you promised yourself you'd make, you were in charge of building the showpiece arena for an Olympic Games.
And not only did you get your dimensions wrong, but you've been delayed to such an extent that it might not be ready in time.
No, this is not the retelling of a recent nightmare a Brisbane 2032 executive has had — at least, we all hope not.
No. This is the very real nightmare facing the builders of the Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in Milan for the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics.
Last week, the NHL became aware that the rink dimensions of the 16,000 capacity showpiece arena differed from what was agreed upon.
The rink dimensions are the same in the secondary Milano Rho Arena too.
Not only that, but the NHL commissioner Gary Bettman expressed serious concerns as to whether the building would even be completed in time for the competition to begin in Feburary.
So what happened and why is it such a big deal?
Ice hockey is a Winter Olympic mainstay — but the best players are not always there
Ice hockey has been one of the stalwarts of Winter Olympics since the first took place in Chamonix in 1924.
The sport's association with the Olympics predates even that first Winter Games — it was a medal event at the 1920 Summer Games in Antwerp as part of the conditions imposed by the venue for having to host figure skating.
Early in Olympic history Canada dominated the medal table, winning six of the first seven competitions. Then, in the 1956 Cortina Games, the Soviet Union entered for the first time and proceeded to win seven of the next nine gold medals.
Part of the reason for the Soviet Union's success was due to the ban on professionals, a limit that only ended in 1988.
Despite the ban being lifted — a Games-wide change that allowed the USA Dream Team to dominate basketball at the Summer Games in Barcelona — it did not stop the foremost ice hockey league in the world, the NHL (National Hockey League), from barring its players from competing right up until the 1998 Games.
The reasons for this range from insurance concerns — if players get injured, who is going to stump up the compensation to their franchises in North America? There is also a desire not to interrupt the NHL season, which generally runs from early October through early April.
The league's commissioner called the Games "a mixed bag" for the NHL in a recent press conference, thinly disguising the contempt the premier professional league has for the Olympics.
"We come back, team by team, in slightly different shape than we left," Bettman said.
"And we don't get to control things, and we don't get to control media," he added, exhibiting an extraordinarily North America-centric view of the sporting world.
He did admit that overall "it's good for hockey worldwide and it's something important to our players".
It is important to the players, who were furious that they were denied the chance to compete in Beijing four years ago.
NHL stars were permitted to play at the Games between 1998 and 2014 before a blanket ban was reapplied for the PyeongChang and Beijing Games, first for reasons of travel and then due to scheduling issues sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic.
That meant those players who were up for selection this time around were champing at the bit to represent their country on the biggest stage again, their appetite whetted by the extraordinary, politically charged 4 Nations tournament that took place in Feburary last year.
Does size matter?
The ice hockey is expected to be one of the big ticket events of the Games, with the new, 16,000-seat arena built in Milan's south east.
So, what's the issue with size of the rink?
Primarily, the dimensions of the skating surface are different to what was agreed between the NHL, the players association, the IOC and the IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation).
This only became apparent in the US thanks to comments from Team Canada assistant coach Peter DeBoer, who brought it up on a radio show on December 2.
"I don't understand how that happened," he said.
Fair enough, too — so how on earth does such a thing happen?
Well, for a start, the international game is played on ice with slightly different dimensions to that the NHL is played on.
The IIHF rinks are typically 60 metres long and 30 metres wide.
An NHL rink is longer but narrower at 60.96m long and 25.9m wide.
Why the strange measurements for those NHL rinks?
Just think about where they are: 200 feet by 85 feet sounds a lot better to Americans, but doesn't translate as neatly into the metric system (it translates to 60.96m by 25.9m).
Why are they different?
NHL rinks were standardised in size in the late 1920s and were designed to create a fast, confrontational style of play.
That stuck in North America, while in Europe the wider rinks helped a more tactical, stylistic type of play to develop on account of there being more time on the puck.
How big is the Santagiulia Arena?
The dimensions of the rink in Milan are 60m x 26m.
Essentially, it is as long as an international rink but as narrow as an NHL rink.
The NHL was somewhat caught off guard by the discrepancy, with NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly pointing out that it was not immediately apparent that there was an issue during site visits.
"It's not like people bring tape measures there," Daly was reported as saying.
Perhaps that was the problem in the first place.
That being said, the slight variation in what was expected and what has been delivered is not going to pose too many problems.
"The IIHF can confirm that the ice surfaces for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games will measure 60.0 m x 26.0 m," the IIHF wrote in a statement.
"While these dimensions differ slightly from a typical NHL rink, they are consistent with IIHF regulations, match the rink size used at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games and are fully consistent with the dimensions the NHL requires as part of its Global Series Game arena specifications.
"All involved, the IIHF, the Organizing Committee, NHL, NHLPA, IOC and the relevant venue authorities agree that the differences in rink specifications are insignificant, and should not impact either the safety or quality of game play.
"We look forward to welcoming the world's best players for a best-on-best competition at the Games."
Interestingly, the chief Games operations officer for Milan-Cortina essentially told the North Americans to get used to it and said that given this was an acceptable size in Europe, the NHL players would just have to adapt.
"It is clear that the dimensions of the rink are different, but if you come to play in Europe, all the rinks have this type of size," Andrea Francisi said this week.
"So somehow you have to adapt to this kind of dimension."
Fair enough, some might say.
NHL commissioner Bettman said the size difference was a "misunderstanding".
This week at an IOC press briefing, Games sports director Pierre Ducrey said any concerns around the ice size have been "successfully resolved".
The bigger issue is the delay in construction
The NHL has said it will insist on the 2030 Games venue being NHL size, but it can't really complain given the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators played two games in identical dimensions at the Avicii Arena in Stockholm in November.
But if the ice dimensions are OK, why is the NHL still concerned?
Well, the arena hasn't actually been built yet and there is no back up if there are any more delays.
"There is no plan B," Francisi told the Associated Press last week.
"So, necessarily, we have to be able to organise the competition in an impeccable manner at Santagiulia."
This does pose a problem.
Before the Olympics can be held, test events need to be conducted to ensure the ice is of an acceptable standard and all the spectator facilities work.
Normally, test events take place a year or so out from the Games — the Livigno Aerials and Moguls Park had its test event in March 2025, with Laura Peel claiming aerials gold, for example.
The ice hockey test event is scheduled for January 9-11, less than a month from the Games getting underway.
'If the ice isn't ready … then we're not going'
The NHL said that the delays were not "insurmountable" but the league had to be sure that the ice was of a sufficient quality for players to play the game safely.
"The fact that the building at this point still isn't completed is … and I won't use any other adjectives, is disappointing," Bettman said.
His assistant Bill Daly was far blunter, saying that if the league's players feel the quality of the ice at the Olympics in Milan is unsafe, "then we're not going to play".
"If the ice isn't ready and it's not safe, then we're not going," he said.
"I mean, I think that's pretty self-evident."
The NHL has provided ice technicians and experts to assist the local teams get the ice up to an acceptable standard.
"We're basically moving everybody there to try to help get this done in a way that's acceptable for NHL athletes. And I'm cautiously optimistic it will be fruitful," Daly said.
The first ice hockey game scheduled for the Games will take place on February 5 as part of the women's preliminary phase.
The men's Olympic hockey tournament is scheduled to take place between February 11-22, with as many as three games per day taking place on the ice at Santagiulia.
Whether the NHL's players will be there or not remains to be seen.
