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Put aside thin ice. Currently, there’s no ice.

As NHL players preparing to return to the Olympics for the initial occasion in more than a decade, building work on the main hockey venue for the Milan-Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the primary test event for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia arena that was scheduled for December has been relocated 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 match held in the primary venue until the puck is dropped 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 games, the timeline is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milano Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.

The competition that was intended to test 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 the outskirts of Milan and will host secondary matches during the games.

Typically, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the year before to hosting medal events. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not only about the playing surface and making sure that the playing surface is prepared and secure. It’s also about testing concession stands, bathrooms and all other amenities inside a brand-new modern arena.

This new facility, which is being constructed by a commercial firm, is slated to become the nation'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 matches at the Santagiulia venue. Tickets for the men's championship final on 22 February – the final day of the Olympics – are priced at as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). That’s more than for any other athletic competition at the Milan-Cortina Games. Only passes for the inaugural and final events cost more.

The return of NHL players at the Olympics was revealed last February, with the world’s top hockey league allowing its athletes to participate in the Winter Games for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

Men's Olympic hockey competition is set to take place from 11-22 February. Women's event runs from 5-19 February.