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

As NHL players preparing to make a comeback to the Olympics for the first time in over a ten years, construction on the primary hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Local organizers announced on Wednesday that the primary trial competition for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia facility originally planned for December has been moved to a more compact arena – and that no new test event has been scheduled yet.

This situation raises the prospect that there might not be a game held in the main arena until the competition begins 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 Olympics, the timeline 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 ice was a segment of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey venue, which is being set up inside a giant convention center on the outskirts of Milan and will host secondary matches during the games.

Usually, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the prior year to holding podium competitions. And with a sizable hockey arena, it’s not just about the ice and ensuring that the rink is ready and safe. It’s additionally about testing concession stands, restrooms and all other amenities inside a brand-new modern arena.

This new facility, which is being constructed by a private company, is scheduled to become Italy’s biggest covered stadium. For after the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a possible upcoming venue of the ATP Finals tennis event.

In spite of the delays and worries, expensive tickets are already being sold for events at the Santagiulia arena. Tickets for the men's championship game on 22 February – the closing day of the games – are going for as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). This exceeds the price of any other athletic competition at the Milan-Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the inaugural and final events cost more.

The return of NHL stars at the Olympics was revealed in February of last year, with the world’s top hockey league permitting its athletes to participate in the Winter Olympics 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.