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

With NHL players gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympics for the initial occasion in over a decade, construction on the main hockey venue for the Milano 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 creates the possibility that there might not be a match held in the main arena until the competition begins for the women's initial games at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the opening ceremony.

“It’s going to be extremely tight to the start of the Olympics, the timeline is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.

The competition that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia playing surface was a segment of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been transferred to the Rho Fiera hockey location, which is being established inside a giant exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts and will stage lesser games during the games.

Usually, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the prior year to hosting medal events. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not only about the playing surface and making sure that the rink is ready and secure. It’s additionally about checking food outlets, restrooms and all other amenities inside a brand-new modern arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a commercial firm, is slated to become Italy’s largest covered stadium. For after the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a potential upcoming venue of the ATP Tour Finals tennis event.

In spite of the delays and concerns, expensive tickets are already being purchased for events at the Santagiulia venue. Tickets for the men's championship game on 22 February – the final day of the games – are going for as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). That’s more than the price of any other athletic competition at the Milan-Cortina Games. Only tickets 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 players to compete in the Winter Games for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

Men's Olympic hockey competition is set to take place from 11-22 February. The women’s tournament runs from 5-19 February.