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

As NHL athletes gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the first time in more than a ten years, building work on the main hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Local organizers confirmed on Wednesday that the main trial competition for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia arena 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 preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – one day 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 intended to evaluate the Santagiulia ice 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 established inside a giant exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts and will host secondary matches during the Olympics.

Typically, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the year before to hosting medal events. And with a sizable hockey arena, it’s not only about the ice and ensuring that the rink is ready and safe. It’s additionally about checking concession stands, restrooms and everything else inside a brand-new modern stadium.

This new facility, which is being constructed by a commercial firm, is slated to become Italy’s largest indoor arena. For after the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a potential future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.

Despite the postponements and worries, expensive passes are already being purchased for events at the Santagiulia venue. Seats for the men's championship final on 22 February – the closing day of the games – are priced at as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). This exceeds for any other athletic competition at the Milan-Cortina Games. Only tickets for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

The comeback of NHL stars at the Olympics was announced last February, with the world’s top hockey league permitting its athletes to participate in the Winter Games for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

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