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Forget about poor conditions. For now, there’s no ice.

As NHL players preparing to return to the Olympics for the initial occasion in over a ten years, construction on the primary hockey venue for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Officials confirmed on Wednesday that the main test event for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia arena that was scheduled 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 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 extremely tight to the beginning of the Olympics, the schedule is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier said in a recent update.

The competition that was intended to evaluate the Santagiulia playing surface was a segment of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been transferred to the Rho Fair hockey venue, which is being set up inside a giant convention center on Milan’s outskirts and will host lesser games during the Olympics.

Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the prior year to holding podium competitions. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not just about the ice and ensuring that the rink is ready and safe. It’s additionally about testing food outlets, restrooms and everything else inside a brand-new contemporary arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being built by a commercial firm, is scheduled to become the nation's biggest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a potential upcoming venue of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.

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

The comeback of NHL stars at the Olympics was revealed last February, with the world’s top hockey organization permitting its players to participate in the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

Men's Olympic hockey competition is set to run from 11-22 February. The women’s event runs from 5-19 February.