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Put aside thin ice. Currently, there’s no ice.

As NHL players gearing up to return to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in over a ten years, construction on the main hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the primary trial competition for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia facility originally planned for December has been relocated to a more compact arena – and that no new test event has been scheduled yet.

This situation 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 very close to the start of the games, the timeline is very tight. But we knew that,” Milano Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.

The competition that was intended to evaluate the Santagiulia playing surface was part of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been transferred to the Rho Fiera hockey venue, which is being established inside a giant convention center on the outskirts of Milan and will host lesser games during the Olympics.

Typically, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the year before to hosting podium competitions. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not only about the ice and making sure that the playing surface is prepared and secure. It’s additionally about testing food outlets, bathrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed modern arena.

This new facility, which is being constructed by a private company, is scheduled to become the nation's biggest covered stadium. For after the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a potential future host of the ATP Finals tennis event.

In spite of the delays and concerns, expensive tickets are already being sold for events at the Santagiulia arena. Tickets for the men’s gold medal game on 22 February – the closing day of the games – are priced at as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). This exceeds the price of any other sports event at the Milano Cortina Games. Only tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies are priced higher.

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

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