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Forget about poor conditions. Currently, the surface isn't ready.

As NHL athletes preparing to make a comeback to the Olympics for the first time in over a ten years, construction on the primary hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

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

This situation raises the prospect that there might not be a game held in the primary venue until the competition begins 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 schedule is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier stated recently.

The event that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia ice was a segment of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been transferred to the Rho Fair hockey venue, which is being set up inside a massive convention center on Milan’s outskirts and will host lesser games during the Olympics.

Typically, new Olympic venues are tested at least the year before to holding medal events. And with a sizable hockey arena, it’s not just about the playing surface and ensuring that the rink is prepared and safe. It’s also about checking concession stands, restrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed contemporary stadium.

This new facility, which is being constructed by a private company, is scheduled to become Italy’s biggest indoor arena. For after the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a possible future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis event.

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

The comeback of NHL players at the Olympics was announced in February of last year, with the world’s top hockey league permitting its players to compete in the Winter Olympics for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

The men’s Olympic hockey tournament is scheduled to take place from 11-22 February. The women’s event runs from 5-19 February.