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

With NHL athletes preparing to return to the Olympic Games for the first time in over a ten years, building work on the primary hockey venue for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Local organizers announced on Wednesday that the main trial competition for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia arena originally planned for December has been relocated to a more compact arena – and that no additional trial has been scheduled yet.

The issue creates the possibility 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 – one day before the opening ceremony.

“The timeline will be extremely tight to the beginning of the Olympics, the schedule is very tight. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said in a recent update.

The event that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia ice was a segment 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.

Usually, new Olympic venues are tested at least the year before to hosting podium competitions. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not just about the ice and ensuring that the rink is ready and secure. It’s additionally about testing food outlets, restrooms and everything else inside a brand-new contemporary arena.

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

Despite the postponements and worries, expensive passes are already being sold for events at the Santagiulia venue. Tickets for the men's championship game on 22 February – the final day of the games – are priced at as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). That’s more than for any other athletic competition at the Milano 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 premier hockey league allowing its athletes to compete in the Winter Olympics for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

Men's Olympic hockey competition is scheduled to take place from 11-22 February. Women's event occurs from 5-19 February.