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Forget about poor conditions. Currently, there’s no ice.

As NHL players preparing to return to the Olympics for the first time in more than a decade, building work on the main hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Officials confirmed on Wednesday that the primary test event for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia facility originally planned for December has been relocated to a smaller arena – and that no additional trial has been scheduled yet.

The issue creates the possibility 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 – 24 hours before the inaugural event.

“It’s going to be extremely tight to the beginning of the Olympics, the timeline is very tight. However, we were aware,” Milano Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated in a recent update.

The competition that was supposed to test the Santagiulia ice was part of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been transferred to the Rho Fair hockey location, which is being established inside a massive exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will stage lesser games during the Olympics.

Typically, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the year before to hosting podium competitions. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not only about the playing surface and ensuring that the rink is prepared and secure. It’s also about testing food outlets, bathrooms and everything else inside a newly constructed modern stadium.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a commercial firm, is scheduled to become the nation's largest indoor arena. For after the Olympics, it’s being considered as a potential future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis event.

In spite of the delays and worries, expensive tickets are already being sold for events at the Santagiulia venue. Seats for the men’s gold medal final on 22 February – the final day of the games – are going for as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). That’s more than for any other sports event at the Milano Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

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

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