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

With NHL athletes gearing up to return to the Olympics for the first time in more than a decade, construction on the primary hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the main test event for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia facility that was scheduled for December has been moved to a smaller venue – and that no new test event has been scheduled 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 – one day before the inaugural event.

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

The competition that was intended to evaluate the Santagiulia playing surface was part of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fair hockey location, which is being established inside a giant exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will host lesser games during the games.

Usually, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the year before to holding podium competitions. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not just about the ice and making sure that the playing surface is prepared and safe. It’s additionally about checking food outlets, bathrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed modern arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being built by a commercial firm, is slated to become Italy’s biggest covered stadium. For after the Olympics, it’s being considered as a potential future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.

Despite the delays and worries, high-priced tickets are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia arena. Tickets for the men's championship final on 22 February – the final day of the Olympics – are priced at as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). That’s more than the price of any other athletic competition at the Milan-Cortina Games. Only passes for the opening and closing ceremonies are priced higher.

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

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