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Put aside thin ice. Currently, there’s no ice.

With NHL athletes preparing to make a comeback to the Olympics for the initial occasion in over a decade, building work on the main 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-seat Santagiulia arena originally planned for December has been relocated to a smaller 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 competition begins for the women's initial games at the Olympics on 5 February – one day before the opening ceremony.

“The timeline will be extremely tight to the start of the games, the schedule is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milano Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated in a recent update.

The competition that was intended to test the Santagiulia playing surface was a segment of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been transferred to the Rho Fiera hockey venue, which is being set up inside a giant convention center on the outskirts of Milan and will host secondary matches during the Olympics.

Usually, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the year before to holding podium competitions. And with a sizable hockey venue, it’s not just about the playing surface and making sure that the playing surface is ready and secure. It’s also about checking concession stands, restrooms and all other amenities inside a brand-new contemporary arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a commercial firm, is scheduled to become the nation's largest covered stadium. For after the Olympics, it’s being considered as a possible upcoming venue of the ATP Finals tennis event.

In spite of the delays and concerns, high-priced tickets are already being purchased for events at the Santagiulia arena. Tickets for the men’s gold medal game on 22 February – the closing day of the Olympics – are going for as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). That’s more than the price of any other sports event at the Milano Cortina Games. Only tickets for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

The return of NHL stars at the Olympics was revealed in February of last year, with the premier hockey organization permitting its players to compete in the Winter Games for the initial occasion 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.