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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 decade, building work on the main hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

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

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

“It’s going to be very close to the start of the games, the timeline is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated recently.

The competition that was intended to test the Santagiulia ice was part of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved to the Rho Fair hockey location, which is being set up inside a giant exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will host secondary matches during the games.

Usually, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the year before to hosting podium competitions. And with a sizable hockey venue, it’s not only about the ice and making sure that the playing surface is ready and secure. It’s additionally about testing concession stands, bathrooms and everything else inside a brand-new contemporary 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 considered as a potential future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.

In spite of the postponements and concerns, expensive tickets 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 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. Only tickets for the inaugural and final events cost more.

The return of NHL stars at the Olympics was revealed last February, with the premier hockey organization allowing its players to participate in the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

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