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

With NHL players preparing to make a comeback to the Olympics for the initial occasion in more than a decade, building work on the primary hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is cutting it close.

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

The issue raises the prospect that there might not be a match held in the main arena until the puck is dropped for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the opening ceremony.

“It’s going to be extremely tight to the beginning of the Olympics, the schedule is very tight. However, we were aware,” Milano Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.

The competition that was intended to evaluate the Santagiulia ice was a segment of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been transferred to the Rho Fair hockey location, which is being established inside a massive convention center on Milan’s outskirts and will stage lesser games during the Olympics.

Usually, freshly built Olympic facilities are tested at least the prior year to holding podium competitions. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not only about the playing surface and ensuring that the playing surface is prepared and safe. It’s also about testing concession stands, bathrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed modern arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being built by a private company, is scheduled to become the nation's biggest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being considered as a potential future host of the ATP Finals tennis event.

In spite of the delays and concerns, expensive passes are already being purchased for events at the Santagiulia venue. Seats for the men's championship final on 22 February – the final day of the Olympics – are priced at as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). That’s more than the price of any other athletic competition at the Milan-Cortina Games. Only passes for the opening and closing ceremonies are priced higher.

The comeback of NHL players at the Olympics was announced in February of last year, with the world’s top hockey league permitting its athletes to compete in the Winter Olympics for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

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