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Forget about thin ice. Currently, the surface isn't ready.

With NHL athletes gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in more than a ten years, construction on the primary hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the primary trial competition for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia arena that was scheduled for December has been relocated to a more compact arena – and that no new test event has been arranged yet.

This situation creates the possibility that there may not be a game held in the primary venue until the competition begins for the women's initial games at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the opening ceremony.

“It’s going to be extremely tight to the start of the games, the timeline is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated recently.

The event that was supposed to test the Santagiulia playing surface was part of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey location, which is being established inside a giant exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts and will stage secondary matches during the Olympics.

Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are tested at least the year before to hosting medal events. And with a sizable hockey venue, it’s not just about the playing surface and making sure that the rink is prepared and safe. It’s additionally about testing food outlets, restrooms and everything else inside a brand-new contemporary arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being built by a private company, is slated to become Italy’s biggest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a possible upcoming venue of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.

In spite of the delays and worries, high-priced tickets are already being purchased for events at the Santagiulia venue. Seats for the men's championship final on 22 February – the final day of the Olympics – are going for as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). That’s more than the price of any other athletic competition at the Milan-Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the inaugural and final events cost more.

The return of NHL players at the Olympics was announced last February, with the world’s top hockey league allowing its athletes to compete in the Winter Olympics for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

The men’s Olympic hockey tournament is scheduled to take place from 11-22 February. The women’s tournament runs from 5-19 February.