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

As NHL players gearing up to return to the Olympic Games for the first time in more than a ten years, building work on the main hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Local organizers announced on Wednesday that the main test event for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia facility that was scheduled for December has been relocated to a more compact arena – and that no additional trial has been arranged yet.

This situation creates the possibility that there may not be a match held in the primary venue until the puck is dropped for the women's initial games at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the inaugural event.

“The timeline will be very close to the start of the Olympics, the schedule is very tight. However, we were aware,” Milano Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.

The event that was intended to test the Santagiulia ice was part of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fair hockey location, which is being established inside a giant exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts and will stage lesser games during the games.

Usually, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the prior year to hosting podium competitions. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not just about the playing surface and ensuring that the playing surface is ready and secure. It’s also 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 slated to become the nation's biggest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a potential future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.

Despite the delays and concerns, high-priced passes are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia venue. Tickets for the men's championship final on 22 February – the closing day of the games – are going for as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). That’s more than the price of any other sports event 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 world’s top hockey league permitting its athletes to participate in the Winter Games for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

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