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

With NHL players gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in more than a ten years, building work on the primary hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Local organizers announced on Wednesday that the primary trial competition for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia arena that was scheduled for December has been moved to a smaller venue – and that no additional trial 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 preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – one day before the opening ceremony.

“The timeline will be very close to the start of the Olympics, the timeline is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier stated in a recent update.

The competition that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia playing surface was a segment of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been transferred to the Rho Fair hockey venue, which is being established inside a massive exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts and will host lesser games during the Olympics.

Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are tested at least the year before to holding podium competitions. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not only about the ice and making sure that the rink is ready and safe. It’s additionally about testing concession stands, restrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed modern stadium.

This new facility, which is being built by a private company, is scheduled to become Italy’s largest indoor arena. For after the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a possible upcoming venue of the ATP Tour Finals tennis event.

In spite of the postponements and worries, high-priced passes are already being purchased for matches at the Santagiulia venue. Seats for the men’s gold medal final on 22 February – the closing day of the games – are priced at as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). That’s more than for any other sports event at the Milan-Cortina Games. Only passes for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

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

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