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Put aside poor conditions. Currently, the surface isn't ready.

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

Officials announced on Wednesday that the main trial competition for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia arena originally planned for December has been relocated to a more compact arena – and that no new test event has been arranged 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 initial games at the Olympics on 5 February – one day before the opening ceremony.

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

The competition that was supposed to test 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 giant exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan 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 venue, it’s not only about the ice and ensuring that the playing surface is ready and secure. It’s also about testing food outlets, bathrooms and everything else inside a brand-new contemporary stadium.

This new facility, which is being constructed by a private company, is scheduled to become Italy’s biggest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a potential upcoming venue of the ATP Tour Finals tennis event.

Despite the delays and worries, high-priced tickets are already being purchased for matches at the Santagiulia venue. Seats for the men’s gold medal game on 22 February – the final day of the games – are priced at as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). This exceeds for any other athletic competition at the Milano Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies are priced higher.

The return of NHL players at the Olympics was announced in February of last year, with the world’s top hockey organization permitting its players to compete in the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

The men’s Olympic hockey competition is scheduled to take place from 11-22 February. Women's event occurs from 5-19 February.