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

As NHL athletes gearing up to return to the Olympic Games for the first time in more than a decade, construction on the primary hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Local organizers confirmed on Wednesday that the primary 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 scheduled yet.

The issue raises the prospect that there may not be a match 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 very close to the beginning of the Olympics, the schedule is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milano Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated in a recent update.

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

Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are tested at least the year before to hosting podium competitions. And with a sizable hockey arena, it’s not just about the ice and making sure that the playing surface is ready and safe. It’s also about testing food outlets, restrooms and everything else inside a newly constructed contemporary stadium.

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

In spite of the postponements and worries, high-priced passes are already being purchased for events at the Santagiulia venue. Seats for the men's championship final on 22 February – the closing day of the Olympics – are priced at as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). That’s more than the price of any other athletic competition at the Milano Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

The comeback of NHL players at the Olympics was revealed in February of last year, with the premier hockey league permitting its athletes to participate in the Winter Olympics for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

Men's Olympic hockey tournament is set to take place from 11-22 February. Women's tournament occurs from 5-19 February.