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Forget about thin ice. For now, there’s no ice.

As NHL athletes gearing up to return to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in more than a ten years, building work on the primary hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Local organizers announced on Wednesday that the primary trial competition 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 may 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 – 24 hours before the opening ceremony.

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

The event that was intended to test the Santagiulia playing surface was part of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been transferred to the Rho Fiera hockey venue, which is being established inside a giant exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts and will stage secondary matches during the games.

Usually, freshly built Olympic facilities are tested at least the year before to hosting podium competitions. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not just about the playing surface and ensuring that the rink is prepared and safe. It’s additionally about testing food outlets, restrooms and all other amenities inside a brand-new modern arena.

This new facility, which is being built by a private company, is scheduled to become the nation's largest indoor arena. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a potential upcoming venue of the ATP Tour 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 game on 22 February – the final day of the Olympics – are priced at as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). That’s more than the price of any other athletic competition at the Milan-Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

The comeback of NHL stars at the Olympics was revealed in February of last year, with the premier hockey organization permitting its players to participate in the Winter Games for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

The men’s Olympic hockey competition is scheduled to run from 11-22 February. Women's tournament occurs from 5-19 February.