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

With NHL players preparing to make a comeback to the Olympics for the first time in more than a ten years, construction on the main hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Officials confirmed on Wednesday that the primary trial competition for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia facility that was scheduled for December has been moved to a more compact arena – and that no new test event has been arranged yet.

This situation raises the prospect that there may not be a match held in the primary venue until the competition begins 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 timeline is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated recently.

The event that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia ice was a segment of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been transferred to the Rho Fair hockey venue, which is being set up inside a giant convention center on Milan’s outskirts and will host secondary matches during the games.

Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are tested at least the prior year to holding medal events. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not just about the playing surface and making sure that the rink is ready and safe. It’s additionally about testing food outlets, restrooms and everything else inside a newly constructed contemporary stadium.

This new facility, which is being constructed by a private company, is scheduled to become the nation's biggest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being considered as a possible future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis event.

Despite the postponements and worries, expensive passes are already being purchased for events at the Santagiulia venue. Seats for the men's championship final on 22 February – the closing 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 tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies are priced higher.

The return of NHL players at the Olympics was revealed last February, with the premier hockey league permitting its players to participate in the Winter Games for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

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