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Put aside thin ice. Currently, the surface isn't ready.

With NHL players preparing to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the first time in more than a ten years, construction on the primary hockey venue for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the main trial competition for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia arena that was scheduled for December has been moved to a more compact venue – and that no new test event has been arranged yet.

The issue raises the prospect that there might not be a game held in the main arena 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 Olympics, the timeline is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milano Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.

The competition that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia ice was part of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey location, which is being established inside a giant convention center on the outskirts of Milan and will stage secondary matches during the Olympics.

Usually, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the year before to holding medal events. And with a sizable hockey arena, it’s not just about the playing surface and making sure that the rink is prepared and secure. It’s additionally about checking food outlets, bathrooms 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 the nation's biggest covered stadium. For after the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a potential upcoming venue of the ATP Tour Finals tennis event.

Despite the postponements and concerns, expensive tickets are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia venue. Tickets for the men's championship game on 22 February – the closing day of the games – are priced at as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). That’s more than the price of any other athletic competition at the Milano Cortina Games. Solely passes for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

The comeback of NHL stars at the Olympics was announced in February of last year, with the premier hockey league permitting its athletes to compete in the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

Men's Olympic hockey tournament is set to run from 11-22 February. The women’s event occurs from 5-19 February.