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

As NHL athletes preparing to make a comeback to the Olympics 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 main test event 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 raises the prospect that there might not be a game 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 inaugural event.

“The timeline will be extremely tight to the beginning of the games, the timeline is very tight. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated in a recent update.

The competition that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia playing surface was a segment of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey location, which is being set up inside a massive convention center on the outskirts of Milan and will stage lesser games during the games.

Usually, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the year before to holding podium competitions. And with a sizable hockey venue, it’s not only about the ice and making sure that the rink is ready and secure. It’s also about testing concession stands, restrooms and everything else inside a brand-new modern arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a private company, is scheduled to become the nation's largest indoor arena. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a possible future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis event.

In spite of the delays and worries, expensive tickets are already being purchased for matches at the Santagiulia venue. Seats for the men’s gold medal game on 22 February – the closing day of the Olympics – are priced at as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). This exceeds for any other sports event at the Milan-Cortina Games. Only tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies cost more.

The comeback of NHL stars at the Olympics was announced in February of last year, with the premier hockey organization permitting its athletes to compete in the Winter Olympics for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

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