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Put aside thin ice. For now, there’s no ice.

As NHL players gearing up to return to the Olympic Games for the first time in more than a ten years, building work on the main hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the main test event for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia arena originally planned for December has been moved to a more compact arena – and that no new test event has been arranged yet.

The issue raises the prospect that there may not be a game held in the main arena until the puck is dropped for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – one day before the inaugural event.

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

The event that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia playing surface was part of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been transferred to the Rho Fiera hockey venue, which is being established inside a giant convention center on Milan’s outskirts and will stage secondary matches during the games.

Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the prior year to holding medal events. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not only about the playing surface and making sure that the playing surface is prepared and secure. It’s additionally about testing concession stands, restrooms and all other amenities inside a brand-new modern stadium.

This new facility, which is being constructed by a commercial firm, is scheduled to become the nation's biggest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a potential future host of the ATP Finals tennis tournament.

Despite the postponements and worries, high-priced tickets are already being purchased for matches at the Santagiulia venue. Seats for the men’s gold medal final on 22 February – the closing day of the Olympics – are priced at as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). That’s more than for any other athletic competition at the Milan-Cortina Games. Solely passes for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

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

Men's Olympic hockey competition is scheduled to take place from 11-22 February. The women’s tournament occurs from 5-19 February.