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Put aside poor conditions. Currently, there’s no ice.

With NHL players gearing up to return to the Olympics for the first time in more than a ten years, building work on the main hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Local organizers confirmed on Wednesday that the primary test event for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia facility that was scheduled for December has been moved to a smaller arena – and that no new test event has been arranged yet.

This situation 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.

“It’s going to be extremely tight to the start of the games, the timeline is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier stated recently.

The event that was intended to test the Santagiulia ice was a segment of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been transferred to the Rho Fiera hockey venue, which is being set up inside a giant convention center on Milan’s outskirts and will host lesser games during the Olympics.

Typically, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the year before to holding podium competitions. 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 testing concession stands, bathrooms and everything else inside a brand-new contemporary stadium.

This new facility, which is being constructed by a commercial firm, is scheduled to become Italy’s largest indoor arena. For after the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a potential future host of the ATP Finals tennis event.

Despite the delays and worries, high-priced passes are already being purchased for events at the Santagiulia venue. Seats for the men's championship game on 22 February – the closing day of the games – are priced at as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). This exceeds for any other sports event at the Milan-Cortina Games. Only passes for the inaugural and final events cost more.

The comeback of NHL stars at the Olympics was announced in February of last year, with the premier hockey organization allowing its athletes to participate in the Winter Olympics for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

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