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

As NHL players preparing to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in over a decade, building work on the primary hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Officials confirmed on Wednesday that the primary test event for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia facility that was scheduled for December has been moved to a more compact venue – and that no additional trial has been arranged yet.

The issue creates the possibility that there may 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 – 24 hours before the opening ceremony.

“The timeline will be extremely tight to the start of the Olympics, the schedule is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milano Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said in a recent update.

The event that was intended to evaluate the Santagiulia ice was a segment of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been transferred to the Rho Fiera hockey venue, which is being set up inside a massive convention center on the outskirts of Milan and will host lesser games during the games.

Usually, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the year before to hosting medal events. And with a sizable hockey arena, it’s not only about the ice and making sure that the rink is ready and secure. It’s additionally about checking food outlets, bathrooms and everything else inside a newly constructed contemporary stadium.

This new facility, which is being built by a commercial firm, is scheduled to become the nation's biggest indoor arena. Following the Olympics, it’s being considered as a potential upcoming venue of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.

Despite the delays and worries, expensive tickets are already being purchased for matches at the Santagiulia arena. Seats for the men’s gold medal final 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 sports event at the Milano Cortina Games. Only tickets for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

The comeback of NHL players at the Olympics was announced 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.

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