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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 first time in more than a decade, construction on the primary hockey venue 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 moved to a smaller venue – and that no additional trial has been scheduled yet.

This situation creates the possibility that there might 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 – one day before the inaugural event.

“The timeline will be extremely tight to the start of the Olympics, the schedule is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milano Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier said in a recent update.

The competition that was intended to test the Santagiulia ice was part of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved 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 trialled at least the year before to holding medal events. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not just about the playing surface and ensuring that the playing surface is ready and safe. It’s also about checking food outlets, bathrooms and everything else inside a brand-new modern stadium.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a commercial firm, is scheduled to become the nation's largest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a possible upcoming venue of the ATP Finals tennis event.

In spite of the postponements and concerns, high-priced passes are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia arena. Tickets for the men’s gold medal final on 22 February – the closing day of the Olympics – are priced at as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). This exceeds for any other sports event at the Milan-Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the inaugural and final events cost more.

The comeback of NHL players at the Olympics was revealed last February, with the world’s top hockey league permitting its players to participate in the Winter Olympics 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 event occurs from 5-19 February.