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

With NHL athletes preparing to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in over a ten years, building work on the primary hockey venue for the Milan-Cortina Games is cutting it close.

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

The issue raises the prospect that there may not be a game held in the main arena until the competition begins for the women's initial games at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the opening ceremony.

“It’s going to be extremely tight to the beginning of the games, the schedule is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier said in a recent update.

The event that was supposed to test the Santagiulia playing surface was a segment of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved to the Rho Fair hockey venue, which is being established inside a massive exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will stage lesser games during the Olympics.

Usually, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the year before to hosting medal events. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not only about the playing surface and making sure that the rink is ready and safe. It’s additionally about testing food outlets, restrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed modern arena.

This new facility, which is being built by a commercial firm, is slated to become Italy’s biggest indoor arena. Following the Olympics, it’s being considered as a potential future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.

In spite of the delays and concerns, high-priced tickets are already being purchased for matches at the Santagiulia venue. Tickets for the men’s gold medal final on 22 February – the final day of the games – are going for as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). This exceeds for any other sports event at the Milan-Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies are priced higher.

The return of NHL players at the Olympics was announced in February of last year, with the premier hockey league permitting its athletes to participate in the Winter Games for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

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