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Put aside thin ice. Currently, the surface isn't ready.

As NHL athletes preparing to return to the Olympics for the first time in more than a ten years, construction on the primary hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the primary test event for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia facility originally planned for December has been moved to a more compact arena – and that no additional trial has been arranged yet.

This situation raises the prospect that there may not be a match held in the main arena until the competition begins for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the inaugural event.

“It’s going to be very close to the beginning of the games, the timeline is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milano Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier stated recently.

The competition that was intended to evaluate the Santagiulia ice 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 set up inside a massive convention center on the outskirts of Milan and will host secondary matches during the games.

Typically, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the year before to hosting podium competitions. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not just about the playing surface and making sure that the playing surface is ready and secure. It’s also about checking concession stands, bathrooms and everything else inside a brand-new modern arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being built by a private company, is slated to become Italy’s largest covered stadium. For after the Olympics, it’s being considered as a possible future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.

Despite the postponements and worries, high-priced passes are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia venue. Seats for the men's championship game on 22 February – the final day of the Olympics – are priced at as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). This exceeds for any other athletic competition at the Milano Cortina Games. Only tickets for the inaugural and final events cost more.

The return of NHL stars at the Olympics was revealed in February of last year, with the world’s top hockey league permitting its players to compete in the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

The men’s Olympic hockey tournament is scheduled to run from 11-22 February. Women's event runs from 5-19 February.