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Forget about poor conditions. Currently, there’s no ice.

With NHL players gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympics for the first time in more than a decade, building work on the primary hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the primary trial competition for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia arena that was scheduled for December has been moved to a smaller venue – and that no new test event has been scheduled yet.

This situation creates the possibility that there might not be a match held in the primary venue until the competition begins for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – one day before the opening ceremony.

“It’s going to be extremely tight to the start of the Olympics, the schedule is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.

The competition that was supposed 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 Fiera hockey location, which is being established inside a giant exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts and will stage secondary matches during the games.

Usually, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the prior year to hosting podium competitions. And with a sizable hockey arena, it’s not just about the ice and making sure that the playing surface is ready and secure. It’s additionally about testing concession stands, restrooms and everything else inside a brand-new contemporary arena.

This new facility, which is being constructed by a commercial firm, is slated to become the nation's largest indoor arena. Following the Olympics, it’s being considered as a potential future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.

Despite the postponements and worries, 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 Olympics – are going for as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). That’s more than for any other athletic competition at the Milano Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the inaugural and final events cost more.

The return of NHL stars at the Olympics was revealed in February of last year, with the world’s top hockey organization permitting its athletes to compete 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. The women’s tournament runs from 5-19 February.