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

As NHL players preparing to return to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in over a decade, building work on the primary hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the primary test event for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia arena originally planned 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 game held in the primary venue until the puck is dropped for the women's initial games at the Olympics on 5 February – one day before the opening ceremony.

“It’s going to be very close to the start of the Olympics, the schedule is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated in a recent update.

The competition that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia ice was part of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been transferred to the Rho Fiera hockey location, which is being set up inside a giant convention center on the outskirts of Milan and will host secondary matches during the games.

Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the prior year to holding 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 safe. It’s also about testing concession stands, bathrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed contemporary stadium.

This new facility, which is being constructed by a private company, is scheduled to become the nation'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 concerns, expensive passes are already being purchased for events at the Santagiulia arena. Tickets for the men's championship final on 22 February – the closing day of the Olympics – are going for as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). This exceeds the price of any other sports event at the Milano Cortina Games. Only passes for the opening and closing ceremonies cost more.

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

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