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Put aside poor conditions. For now, there’s no ice.

With NHL athletes gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the first time in over a decade, building work on the primary hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Local organizers announced on Wednesday that the primary test event for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia facility that was scheduled for December has been relocated to a smaller arena – and that no new test event has been arranged yet.

The issue raises the prospect that there might not be a match held in the main arena until the puck is dropped for the women's initial games at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the inaugural event.

“It’s going to be extremely tight to the beginning of the games, the timeline is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier stated recently.

The competition that was supposed to test the Santagiulia playing surface was part of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fair hockey location, which is being established inside a giant convention center on Milan’s outskirts and will stage lesser games during the games.

Typically, new Olympic venues are tested at least the year before to hosting medal events. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not only about the ice and making sure that the playing surface is prepared and secure. It’s also about testing concession stands, restrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed contemporary arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a private company, is slated to become Italy’s largest indoor arena. For after the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a potential upcoming venue of the ATP Finals tennis event.

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

The return of NHL stars at the Olympics was revealed last February, with the world’s top hockey organization permitting its athletes to compete in the Winter Games for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

Men's Olympic hockey competition is scheduled to run from 11-22 February. Women's tournament occurs from 5-19 February.