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Put aside thin ice. Currently, there’s no ice.

With NHL athletes gearing up to return to the Olympic Games 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 confirmed on Wednesday that the main test event for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia arena originally planned for December has been moved to a more compact arena – and that no additional trial has been scheduled yet.

The issue raises the prospect that there might not be a match held in the primary venue 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 games, the schedule is very tight. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier stated recently.

The event that was supposed to test the Santagiulia playing surface 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 set up inside a giant exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will host lesser games during the games.

Usually, new Olympic venues are tested at least the prior year to holding medal events. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not only about the ice and ensuring that the rink is prepared and secure. It’s additionally about checking concession stands, restrooms and everything else inside a newly constructed modern stadium.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being built by a commercial firm, is scheduled to become Italy’s largest indoor arena. For after the Olympics, it’s being considered as a potential upcoming venue of the ATP Finals tennis tournament.

In spite of the delays and concerns, expensive passes are already being purchased for matches at the Santagiulia arena. Tickets for the men's championship final on 22 February – the closing day of the Olympics – are going for as much as €1,400 (more than $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 stars at the Olympics was announced in February of last year, with the world’s top hockey organization allowing its athletes to participate in the Winter Olympics for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

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