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Forget about poor conditions. For now, the surface isn't ready.

As NHL players preparing to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in over a decade, building work on the primary hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the main trial competition for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia facility that was scheduled for December has been moved to a more compact arena – and that no additional trial 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 – 24 hours before the opening ceremony.

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

The event that was intended to evaluate the Santagiulia ice was part of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been transferred to the Rho Fiera hockey location, which is being established inside a giant convention center on Milan’s outskirts and will stage lesser games during the Olympics.

Usually, freshly built Olympic facilities are tested at least the year before to holding medal events. And with a sizable hockey arena, it’s not just about the ice and making sure that the playing surface is ready and secure. It’s additionally about testing food outlets, restrooms and everything else inside a brand-new contemporary stadium.

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

In spite of the postponements and concerns, expensive passes are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia venue. Tickets for the men's championship game on 22 February – the closing day of the Olympics – are going for as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). This exceeds the price of any other sports event at the Milan-Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

The comeback of NHL players at the Olympics was announced in February of last year, with the world’s top hockey organization permitting its players to participate in the Winter Games for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

Men's Olympic hockey competition is scheduled to take place from 11-22 February. Women's tournament runs from 5-19 February.