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Forget about thin ice. Currently, there’s no ice.

With NHL athletes gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in more than a decade, building work on the primary hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Local organizers announced on Wednesday that the main test event for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia facility that was scheduled for December has been relocated to a smaller arena – and that no additional trial has been arranged yet.

This situation raises the prospect that there may not be a match 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.

“It’s going to be very close to the start of the games, the schedule is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated recently.

The event that was intended to evaluate the Santagiulia ice 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 set up inside a massive exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will host lesser games during the Olympics.

Typically, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the prior year to hosting medal events. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not only about the ice and ensuring that the playing surface is prepared and safe. It’s additionally about checking food outlets, restrooms and everything else inside a brand-new modern arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a private company, is slated 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.

Despite the postponements and concerns, high-priced passes are already being purchased for events at the Santagiulia arena. Tickets for the men’s gold medal game 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 for any other sports event at the Milano Cortina Games. Only tickets for the inaugural and final events cost more.

The return of NHL stars at the Olympics was revealed in February of last year, with the world’s top hockey organization allowing its athletes to compete in the Winter Games 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 tournament runs from 5-19 February.