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Forget about thin ice. For now, there’s no ice.

With NHL athletes preparing to return to the Olympics for the first time in over a decade, construction on the main hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

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

This situation creates the possibility that there might not be a game held in the primary venue until the puck is dropped for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the opening ceremony.

“It’s going to be very close to the start of the Olympics, the timeline is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milano Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated recently.

The event that was intended 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 Fiera hockey venue, which is being set up inside a giant convention center on Milan’s outskirts and will host lesser games during the games.

Usually, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the year before to hosting podium competitions. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not just about the playing surface and ensuring that the playing surface is ready and secure. It’s additionally about checking food outlets, bathrooms and everything else inside a newly constructed contemporary arena.

This new facility, which is being built by a commercial firm, is scheduled to become Italy’s biggest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a possible upcoming venue of the ATP Finals tennis event.

Despite the postponements and worries, high-priced passes are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia venue. Seats for the men's championship game 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 sports event at the Milan-Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies cost more.

The return of NHL players at the Olympics was announced in February of last year, with the world’s top hockey league allowing its athletes to participate in the Winter Games 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 tournament occurs from 5-19 February.