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Forget about thin ice. Currently, the surface isn't ready.

With NHL athletes gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in more than a decade, building work on the main hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Local organizers announced on Wednesday that the main test event for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia facility originally planned for December has been relocated to a smaller arena – 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 preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – one day before the opening ceremony.

“The timeline will be extremely tight to the start of the games, the schedule is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.

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

Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the year before to hosting podium competitions. And with a sizable hockey venue, it’s not only about the playing surface and making sure that the rink is ready and safe. It’s additionally about checking food outlets, restrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed modern stadium.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a private company, is slated 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 postponements and worries, high-priced passes are already being purchased for events at the Santagiulia venue. Tickets for the men’s gold medal game on 22 February – the final day of the Olympics – are going for as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). That’s more than for any other sports event at the Milan-Cortina Games. Only passes for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

The comeback of NHL stars at the Olympics was revealed last February, with the world’s top hockey organization allowing its athletes to participate in the Winter Olympics for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

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