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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, building work on the primary hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Local organizers confirmed on Wednesday that the main trial competition for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia facility that was scheduled for December has been moved to a more compact arena – and that no new test event has been arranged yet.

The issue creates the possibility that there might not be a game held in the primary venue until the puck is dropped for the women's initial games at the Olympics on 5 February – one day before the inaugural event.

“The timeline will be very close to the beginning of the games, the schedule is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.

The competition that was intended to test the Santagiulia ice was a segment of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey venue, which is being set up inside a massive exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts and will host secondary matches during the games.

Usually, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the prior year to hosting medal events. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not only about the ice and ensuring that the rink is prepared and secure. It’s additionally about testing concession stands, bathrooms and all other amenities inside a brand-new modern stadium.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a commercial firm, is slated to become the nation's largest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a potential future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis event.

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

The comeback of NHL players at the Olympics was revealed in February of last year, with the world’s top hockey league allowing its athletes to participate in the Winter Games for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

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