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Forget about thin ice. For now, there’s no ice.

As NHL athletes preparing to make a comeback to the Olympics for the initial occasion in over a ten years, building work on the main hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is cutting it close.

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

The issue raises the prospect that there might not be a match held in the main arena until the puck is dropped for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the opening ceremony.

“The timeline will be very close to the start of the games, the schedule is very tight. However, we were aware,” Milano Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.

The event that was intended to test the Santagiulia playing surface was part of the U20 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 stage secondary matches during the Olympics.

Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the year before to hosting medal events. 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 checking food outlets, bathrooms and everything else inside a newly constructed contemporary arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a commercial firm, 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 tournament.

In spite of the delays and worries, expensive tickets are already being sold for events at the Santagiulia arena. Seats for the men's championship final on 22 February – the final day of the Olympics – are priced at as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). This exceeds for any other sports event at the Milano Cortina Games. Only tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies cost more.

The comeback of NHL stars at the Olympics was revealed last February, with the premier hockey organization allowing its athletes to participate in the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

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