COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said 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.”

“It’s as simple as that,” Daly told reporters after the NHL board of governors meetings on Monday.

Daly told league owners Monday that he didn’t believe construction issues with the Olympic ice hockey rink were “insurmountable.”

The main hockey arena in Milan is scheduled to be finished Feb. 2. The women’s hockey tournament begins three days later, and the men’s tournament, with NHL players set to participate in the Olympics for the first time in over a decade, begins Feb. 11, leaving very little wiggle room.

The Olympic arenas will feature three games a day for nearly three weeks, which will challenge the resiliency of the ice. Daly categorized the updates the NHL and NHLPA received last week as positive, but said the league was upping its efforts to help see through the arena.

“We have offered and they’re utilizing our ice experts and technicians and outside providers,” Daly said. “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.”

The NHL will have ongoing access to the ice. That will include being on site for a test event scheduled for the main rink from Jan. 9-11.

On Monday, the IIHF acknowledged the two rinks in Milan would be about 3 feet shorter than a standard NHL rink (196.85 feet by 85.3 feet, instead of 200 feet by 85 feet) — which goes against the agreement the NHL and NHLPA signed with the IIHF in July.

Daly said the league found out about the skewed dimensions last week, and he was not sure how it happened. Some federations were made aware earlier, but Daly said nobody raised the issue to him and the league did not notice the difference in several site visits because it wasn’t anything “perceptible to anybody. It’s not like people bring tape measures there.”

But the NHL and NHLPA are willing to look past that for now — though they will insist the rink for the 2030 Olympics in France is built to NHL standards.

“The players association has canvassed the players and apparently they did not believe it to be a big issue, health and safety issue or a competitive issue,” Daly said.

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators played games on a similar-sized rink last month at the Global Series in Sweden; the solution was to move the lines so the missing ice was accounted for in the neutral zone rather than either offensive zone. Daly said they did not receive any feedback from players after those games.

Organizers have insisted there is no Plan B for the Olympic hockey tournament to be held elsewhere if the rink is not ready. Daly said the NHL also doesn’t have a contingency plan yet if it decides the ice is not suitable.

“I mean, it kind of is what it is,” Daly said. “Having said that, if you’re faced with that being the reality, then you have to think about what you do next. “

The NHL will go dark for a two-week period during the Games. Asked if it was possible to reconfigure the schedule if necessary, Daly said he wasn’t sure yet.

“Well, I can’t tell you exactly what we do,” he said. “What I’d say is, I think in emergency-type situations like that in the past, I think we’ve responded appropriately, came up with good solutions and I have no doubt that we’ll be able to come up with good solutions if we’re faced with that.”

Charlie McAvoy is on the road to recovery and close to rejoining the Boston Bruins’ lineup.

Boston’s top defenseman has been sidelined since taking a slap shot to the face from Montreal Canadiens defenseman Noah Dobson on Nov. 15. McAvoy suffered what he recently described as a “linear fracture” to the left side of his face that included, he said, “some displacement, and I lost a lot of teeth on the bottom.”

The blueliner was instructed not to eat solid foods until at least six weeks after suffering the injury. He lost 20 pounds in the first week and a half afterward while relegated to a liquid diet. McAvoy said on Monday that he’s mending nicely now though and, after shedding his noncontact jersey at practice, was looking forward to getting back to work with the Bruins.

“Every day I feel better,” he said. “We’re getting it back. We’re getting the chance to do more, skate more, skate longer, and work out off the ice. All those things. We’re making strides, and I’m healing on the fly.”

McAvoy will be on Boston’s upcoming three-game road trip starting on Tuesday in St. Louis, although it’s still unclear when he’ll get the green light to suit up.

“We’ll see,” said McAvoy when asked if he would be ready to face the Blues. “Going on the trip with the expectation and hoping that some point along the way on the trip I’ll be able to get back in.”

It’s not the first time McAvoy has missed time with a significant injury — he just had shoulder surgery in February after getting hurt while representing Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off — but this particular ailment was something entirely new.

“It’s been one of the weirdest injuries I’ve ever had,” he said last week. “The feeling of having so much trauma in your mouth. It’s a wild feeling. But we’re doing everything we can to get back fast.”

McAvoy has been forced to consume only what could be made in a blender. He tried some creative options at first — including pulverized chicken and vegetables — but called that a “nonstarter” and carried on with classic soft foods.

“Soups have been my go-to,” said McAvoy, who has gained back about half of the weight he lost. “Early on a lot of milkshakes and ice cream.”

Considering the force of Dobson’s shot — which knocked McAvoy directly onto his back — the Bruins’ blueliner admitted he “knew right away I was in trouble” and is grateful to finally have enough energy to anchor Boston’s backend again.

McAvoy has 14 points in 19 games this season, while pacing the club in ice time with 23:46 per game. The Bruins are 4-5-0 since McAvoy went down and are currently second in the Atlantic Division.

McAvoy isn’t the only injured party Boston hopes to get back soon. David Pastrnak — the Bruins’ leading scorer — has been out since Nov. 26, but he will be on Boston’s road trip as well with sights set on a return.

MONTREAL — Jordan Binnington knows the chatter is out there. He’s leaning on the mindset that’s pulled him through tough stretches before.

The goaltender who backstopped Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off opened the NHL season as the front-runner to start in February’s Milan-Cortina Games. But a sluggish start — for both him and the St. Louis Blues — has raised questions about where he fits in Canada’s Olympic plan.

“I’m aware of what’s going on, and you want to put yourself in the best position to make that team and make it easy for people making the decision,” he told The Canadian Press. “At the same time, I feel like I’ve been around the league for a decent amount of time and I know that if I control my inner world and what I need to do to feel at my best, then the rest will take care of itself. That’s where my focus goes.”

Sunday night was a step in that direction. Binnington made 23 saves in a 4-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens, thwarting several Grade-A chances — including a last-second look from Canadiens sniper Cole Caufield in the crease — to earn his seventh win this season.

It was a strong outing amid a difficult campaign for the 32-year-old from Ontario, who’s posting career-low stats across the board.

Binnington has a .875 save percentage, ranking 68th leaguewide and sixth-last among goalies with at least 10 games played. His minus-10.86 goals-saved above average, measuring how a goalie compares to the league average, is also fifth-worst according to analytics website Natural Stat Trick.

“Numbers aren’t necessarily where you want them to be,” the 6-foot-2, 172-pound netminder said. “I’ve been approaching it as just focusing on my own process and what I need to feel good at the right time. I’m building my game every day, and that’s all I can do is control what I can control. The more I do that the more things will come out and fall into place.”

Binnington said he hasn’t spoken to Canada’s management team about the Olympic selection less than a month away — Doug Armstrong is both the general manager for St. Louis and the Canadian team.

“We haven’t talked about it at all. I think nothing needs to be said really, just do your job, focus here and the better the St. Louis Blues do, the better that is for that situation as well,” he said.

One thing working in Binnington’s favor is his proven ability to step up in big moments. He led St. Louis to the Stanley Cup in 2019, rising from minor-league goalie to season savior and playoff hero in a few short months.

The fiery netminder — also known for his short temper — showed the same clutch play during the 4 Nations final, turning aside 31 of 33 American shots in Canada’s 3-2 win, including a game-saving desperation glove stop on Auston Matthews in overtime.

“If you’re looking at statistics, you would, you know … but Binnington is such a winner,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “It doesn’t matter the stage, he always has the ability to bounce back because of his mental toughness, his belief in himself, and he was outstanding (Sunday).”