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

With NHL athletes gearing up to return to the Olympic Games for the first time in more than a ten years, building work on the primary hockey venue for the Milan-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 venue – and that no additional trial has been arranged yet.

The issue raises the prospect that there may not be a game held in the main arena until the competition begins for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – one day before the opening ceremony.

“The timeline will be very close to the start of the Olympics, the schedule is very tight. But we knew that,” Milano Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated recently.

The event that was intended to evaluate the Santagiulia playing surface was a segment of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved to the Rho Fair hockey venue, which is being set up inside a giant exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will stage lesser games during the Olympics.

Usually, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the prior year to holding medal events. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not just about the ice and ensuring that the playing surface is prepared and safe. It’s additionally about checking food outlets, restrooms and everything else inside a newly constructed modern arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a commercial firm, is scheduled to become the nation's largest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being considered as a possible future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.

In spite of the postponements and concerns, high-priced tickets are already being purchased for events at the Santagiulia venue. 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 (more than $1,600). That’s more than for any other athletic competition at the Milano Cortina Games. Solely passes for the inaugural and final events cost more.

The comeback of NHL players at the Olympics was revealed in February of last year, with the premier hockey organization permitting its players to participate in the Winter Olympics 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 occurs from 5-19 February.