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Forget about thin ice. Currently, the surface isn't ready.

With NHL players preparing to return to the Olympic Games for the first time in over a ten years, building work on the main hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Local organizers confirmed on Wednesday that the main trial competition for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia facility originally planned for December has been relocated to a smaller arena – and that no additional trial has been scheduled yet.

This situation raises the prospect that there may not be a game held in the main arena until the competition begins for the women's initial games at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours 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 organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said in a recent update.

The competition that was supposed to test the Santagiulia playing surface was a segment of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey venue, which is being established inside a massive exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts and will stage secondary matches during the games.

Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are tested at least the prior year to hosting podium competitions. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not only about the ice and making sure that the playing surface is prepared and safe. It’s additionally about testing food outlets, restrooms and everything else inside a brand-new modern stadium.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a private company, is scheduled to become the nation's largest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a possible future host of the ATP Finals tennis tournament.

In spite of the postponements and worries, high-priced passes are already being purchased for events at the Santagiulia venue. Tickets for the men's championship final on 22 February – the final day of the Olympics – are priced at 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 league permitting its players to compete in the Winter Games for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

Men's Olympic hockey tournament is set to run from 11-22 February. Women's tournament occurs from 5-19 February.