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Put aside poor conditions. For now, the surface isn't ready.

As NHL athletes preparing to make a comeback to the Olympics for the first time in more than a ten years, construction on the primary hockey venue for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Local organizers 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 smaller venue – and that no additional trial has been arranged yet.

This situation creates the possibility that there may 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 – 24 hours before the opening ceremony.

“The timeline will be extremely tight to the start of the games, the timeline is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said in a recent update.

The competition that was intended to evaluate the Santagiulia ice was part of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey venue, which is being established inside a giant exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will stage secondary matches during the Olympics.

Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are tested at least the year before to holding podium competitions. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not only about the playing surface and making sure that the playing surface is ready and secure. It’s also about testing food outlets, restrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed modern stadium.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a private company, is scheduled to become Italy’s biggest covered stadium. For after the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a potential upcoming venue of the ATP Finals tennis tournament.

Despite the postponements and concerns, high-priced tickets are already being sold for events at the Santagiulia venue. Tickets for the men’s gold medal game on 22 February – the final day of the games – are going for as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). That’s more than for any other sports event at the Milan-Cortina Games. Only tickets 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 run from 11-22 February. Women's tournament occurs from 5-19 February.