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

With NHL players gearing up to return to the Olympic Games for the first time in over a decade, building work on the main hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Officials confirmed on Wednesday that the main test event for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia facility that was scheduled for December has been moved to a smaller arena – and that no additional trial has been arranged yet.

This situation creates the possibility that there might not be a game held in the primary venue until the competition begins for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – one day before the opening ceremony.

“The timeline will be extremely tight to the start of the games, the timeline 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 test the Santagiulia playing surface was a segment of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey location, which is being set up inside a massive exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will stage lesser games during the games.

Typically, new Olympic venues are tested at least the year before to holding podium competitions. And with a sizable hockey venue, it’s not just about the playing surface and making sure that the playing surface is ready and secure. It’s additionally about checking food outlets, bathrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed contemporary arena.

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

In spite of the delays and worries, expensive tickets are already being sold for events at the Santagiulia arena. Seats for the men’s gold medal final on 22 February – the closing day of the games – are going for as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). This exceeds for any other sports event at the Milan-Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

The comeback of NHL stars at the Olympics was revealed in February of last year, with the world’s top hockey organization permitting its athletes to participate in the Winter Games for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

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