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Put aside poor conditions. For now, there’s no ice.

As NHL athletes gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in over a decade, construction on the primary hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Local organizers confirmed on Wednesday that the primary trial competition for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia arena originally planned for December has been moved to a more compact venue – and that no additional trial has been arranged yet.

This situation creates the possibility that there may 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 – 24 hours before the opening ceremony.

“It’s going to be very close to the start of the games, the schedule is very tight. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier stated in a recent update.

The competition that was supposed 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 location, which is being set up inside a giant convention center on Milan’s outskirts and will stage lesser games during the games.

Typically, new Olympic venues are tested at least the prior year to hosting medal events. And with a sizable hockey venue, it’s not just about the playing surface and ensuring that the playing surface is ready and safe. It’s also about testing food outlets, bathrooms and everything else inside a newly constructed modern arena.

This new facility, which is being built by a commercial firm, is slated to become Italy’s biggest indoor arena. Following the Olympics, it’s being considered as a possible future host of the ATP Finals tennis event.

In spite of the postponements and concerns, high-priced tickets are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia venue. Tickets for the men's championship game 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 athletic competition at the Milan-Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies cost more.

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

Men's Olympic hockey tournament is set to run from 11-22 February. The women’s event runs from 5-19 February.