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

With NHL athletes gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the first time in more than a ten years, construction on the main hockey venue for the Milan-Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Local organizers announced on Wednesday that the main trial competition for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia facility that was scheduled for December has been moved to a smaller arena – and that no additional trial has been arranged yet.

The issue raises the prospect that there may 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 beginning of the Olympics, the schedule is very tight. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated in a recent update.

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 location, which is being established inside a massive convention center on the outskirts of Milan and will host secondary matches during the Olympics.

Usually, new Olympic venues are tested at least the year before to holding medal events. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not just about the ice and making sure that the playing surface is ready and safe. It’s additionally about testing food outlets, bathrooms and everything else inside a newly constructed modern arena.

This new facility, which is being built by a commercial firm, is slated to become Italy’s largest indoor arena. For after the Olympics, it’s being considered as a possible upcoming venue of the ATP Finals tennis tournament.

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

The return of NHL players at the Olympics was revealed in February of last year, with the premier hockey league allowing its players to participate in the Winter Games for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

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