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

With NHL players gearing up to return to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in over a ten years, construction on the primary hockey venue for the Milan-Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the main test event for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia arena that was scheduled for December has been relocated to a smaller 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 primary venue until the puck is dropped for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the inaugural event.

“The timeline will be extremely tight to the start of the games, the timeline is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milano Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.

The event that was intended to test the Santagiulia ice was a segment of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been transferred to the Rho Fair hockey location, which is being established inside a giant exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will stage lesser games during the Olympics.

Typically, new Olympic venues are tested at least the year before to hosting medal events. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not only about the ice and ensuring that the playing surface is ready and safe. It’s also about checking concession stands, bathrooms and everything else inside a newly constructed modern arena.

This new facility, which is being built by a private company, is scheduled to become the nation's largest indoor arena. For after the Olympics, it’s being considered as a potential upcoming venue of the ATP Tour Finals tennis event.

In spite of the delays and concerns, high-priced passes are already being sold for events at the Santagiulia arena. Tickets for the men’s gold medal game on 22 February – the final day of the Olympics – are going for as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). That’s more than the price of any other sports event at the Milan-Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies cost more.

The return of NHL players at the Olympics was announced last February, with the world’s top hockey league allowing its players to compete in the Winter Olympics for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

The men’s Olympic hockey tournament is scheduled to take place from 11-22 February. The women’s event runs from 5-19 February.