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Put aside thin ice. Currently, there’s no ice.

As NHL athletes preparing to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the first time in over a ten years, building work on the primary hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Officials confirmed on Wednesday that the main test event for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia facility that was scheduled for December has been relocated to a more compact venue – and that no additional trial has been scheduled yet.

This situation creates the possibility that there might not be a match held in the main arena until the competition begins for the women's initial games at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the inaugural event.

“The timeline will be very close to the beginning of the Olympics, the timeline is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milano Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated recently.

The competition that was supposed to test the Santagiulia ice was a segment of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey location, which is being set up inside a giant convention center on Milan’s outskirts and will host secondary matches during the games.

Usually, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the year before to hosting medal events. And with a sizable hockey venue, it’s not only about the playing surface and making sure that the rink is prepared and secure. It’s additionally about checking concession stands, restrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed modern arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being built by a commercial firm, is slated to become Italy’s biggest indoor arena. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a potential future host of the ATP Finals tennis event.

In spite of the postponements and concerns, high-priced tickets are already being purchased for matches at the Santagiulia arena. Seats for the men’s gold medal game on 22 February – the closing day of the games – are priced at as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). This exceeds the price of any other sports event at the Milano Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies cost more.

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

The men’s Olympic hockey competition is set to run from 11-22 February. Women's event occurs from 5-19 February.