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

With NHL players preparing to return to the Olympic Games for the first time in more than a ten years, building work on the main hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the main test event for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia facility that was scheduled for December has been relocated to a smaller venue – and that no new test event has been scheduled yet.

The issue 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 very close to the beginning of the games, the schedule is very tight. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier stated recently.

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 Fair hockey venue, which is being set up inside a giant exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will stage secondary matches during the games.

Usually, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the prior year to hosting podium competitions. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not just about the playing surface and ensuring that the rink is prepared and secure. It’s additionally about checking food outlets, restrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed contemporary stadium.

This new facility, which is being constructed by a private company, is scheduled to become Italy’s largest indoor arena. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a possible upcoming venue of the ATP Finals tennis event.

Despite the postponements and worries, expensive passes are already being purchased for events at the Santagiulia arena. Tickets for the men’s gold medal game on 22 February – the closing day of the Olympics – are going for as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). This exceeds the price of any other athletic competition at the Milan-Cortina Games. Only tickets for the inaugural and final events cost more.

The return of NHL players at the Olympics was revealed last February, with the world’s top hockey organization allowing its athletes to participate in the Winter Games for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

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