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Put aside thin ice. Currently, the surface isn't ready.

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

Local organizers announced on Wednesday that the primary test event for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia arena originally planned 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 game held in the main arena until the puck is dropped for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the opening ceremony.

“It’s going to be extremely tight to the beginning of the Olympics, the timeline is very tight. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.

The competition that was supposed to test the Santagiulia playing surface was part of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event 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 host lesser games during the Olympics.

Typically, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the year before to hosting medal events. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not only about the ice and making sure that the rink is ready and secure. It’s also about testing concession stands, restrooms and everything else inside a newly constructed contemporary arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a private company, is slated to become Italy’s largest indoor arena. For after the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a possible future host of the ATP Finals tennis tournament.

Despite the postponements and concerns, high-priced 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 priced at as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). This exceeds for any other athletic competition 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 announced last February, with the world’s top hockey organization allowing its athletes to compete in the Winter Olympics for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

The men’s Olympic hockey tournament is scheduled to take place from 11-22 February. Women's tournament runs from 5-19 February.