VANCOUVER (CP) - The men's and women's hockey tournament at the 2010 Winter Olympics will be played on the smaller, NHL-sized ice surface, a move that will save organizers of the Vancouver Games $10 million in construction costs.

The decision was announced Wednesday at the end of two days of meetings between the International Olympic Committee co-ordination commission and the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games Organizing Committee (VANOC).

Using the smaller ice surface will eliminate the need for costly renovations to GM Place, home of the NHL Vancouver Canucks.

It also means more seats will be available for fans, which will produce more revenue, said John Furlong, VANOC's chief executive officer.

''For us this is a highly responsible decision,'' said Furlong. ''It's a more sustainable decision for us. It means a lot less complexity for the organizing committee preparing the venue.
  
''It reduces our costs by about $10 million. More importantly, it means about 35,000 more tickets will be sold.''

It's the first time the Olympic tournament will be held on NHL-sized ice.

Rene Fasel, head of the International Ice Hockey Federation, said changing an Olympic tradition wasn't an easy decision.

''It was not an easy call, I have to be honest,'' said Fasel, who also is the co-ordination commission chairman.

The NHL's new stricter rules prohibiting obstruction was one factor in the change. Also, about 53 per cent of the men playing at the 2006 Turin Winter Games played on North American-sized rinks during their regular season.

''We Europeans are not used to the small ice,'' said Fasel. ''Now, with the NHL and the new rule enforcement, it helped a lot. It gives more space for skilled players. It helps a lot in this decision.''

VANOC has not yet signed an agreement with GM Place to use the 18,000-plus-seat arena for the Games.

An NHL rink is 60 metres by 26 metres while international ice is 60 metres by 30 metres.

Expanding GM Place for the Olympics would have resulted in removing seats, blasting through existing concrete, adjusting the internal ice plants, plus altering the configuration of the boards and glass in the arenas.

''It would be stupid to spend so much money to make this construction,'' said Fasel.<

Gilbert Felli, the IOC's Olympic Games executive director, was asked if it was fair to change the style of Olympic hockey simply to help VANOC's bottom line.

''That's a question we raised,'' said Felli.

He was satisfied that teams and officials involved in the Games were consulted before any decision was made.

''We wanted to have the support of all the tams involved in the tournament,'' he said.

Fasel said the possibility of changing the ice size was first discussed by the competing nations at the recent world hockey championships in Riga, Latvia.

Rising construction costs in B.C. has forced VANOC to increase its projected costs for building Games venues to $580 million. That's an $110 million jump from the $470 million projected in the original bid in 2002.

The B.C. government has said it will pay $55 million to cover its share of the overrun, but said the funding is contingent on Ottawa contributing an equal share.

The federal Conservative government has yet to commit any extra money.

The overall budget for the Games in the bid was $2 billion.

Furlong said VANOC was discussing the possibility of changing the ice surface even before building costs began to spiral.

''We were talking about this change in the bid phase,'' he said. ''We talked about it a long time ago. It makes sense. At the time we didn't know how successful we would be.''

Fasel said he thinks VANOC is doing a good job of trying to contain costs.

''They are working very hard to keep the budget the best they can,'' he said.

Felli said the IOC is also satisfied with the $175 million VANOC has budgeted for security for the Games.

That's small compared to the $310 million US budgeted for the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics and the $1.4 billion US  spent on the Turin Games.

''The cost of security could change according to the international situation,'' he said. ''The country has to take care of this issue and we're fully confident the Canadian government will assume the  full security of the Olympic Games.''

I'ts good to know Canada can save some money and keep terrorists at bay with beavers and maple syrup.

Hey... Canada rocks