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Put aside thin ice. Currently, the surface isn't ready.

As NHL athletes preparing to return to the Olympics for the initial occasion in more than a ten years, construction on the main hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Officials confirmed on Wednesday that the main test event for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia arena originally planned for December has been relocated to a more compact arena – and that no new test event has been arranged yet.

This situation raises the prospect that there might not be a game held in the main arena until the puck is dropped 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 games, the timeline is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.

The competition that was supposed to test the Santagiulia ice was a segment of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey location, which is being established inside a giant convention center on Milan’s outskirts and will stage secondary matches during the games.

Usually, freshly built Olympic facilities are tested at least the prior year to holding medal events. And with a sizable hockey venue, it’s not just about the playing surface and ensuring that the rink is ready and safe. It’s additionally about testing food outlets, bathrooms and all other amenities inside a brand-new modern arena.

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

In spite of the postponements and worries, high-priced tickets are already being sold for events at the Santagiulia venue. Tickets for the men's championship game on 22 February – the closing day of the Olympics – are going for 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 inaugural and final events are priced higher.

The return of NHL players at the Olympics was announced last February, with the premier hockey organization allowing its players to compete in the Winter Games for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

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