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

With NHL players gearing up to return 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.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the primary test event for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia facility that was scheduled for December has been moved to a smaller arena – and that no new test event has been arranged yet.

This situation creates the possibility that there may not be a match 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 timeline is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milano Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier stated in a recent update.

The event that was supposed to test the Santagiulia playing surface was part of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey venue, which is being established inside a giant convention center on the outskirts of Milan and will host secondary matches during the Olympics.

Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are tested at least the prior year to holding medal events. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not just about the playing surface and ensuring that the playing surface is ready and secure. It’s additionally about testing food outlets, restrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed modern arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being built by a private company, is slated to become Italy’s largest covered stadium. For after the Olympics, it’s being considered as a possible future host of the ATP Finals tennis event.

Despite the postponements and worries, expensive passes are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia arena. Tickets for the men’s gold medal game on 22 February – the closing day of the Olympics – are going for as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). This exceeds the price of any other sports event at the Milan-Cortina Games. Only passes for the inaugural and final events cost more.

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

Men's Olympic hockey competition is scheduled to run from 11-22 February. Women's event occurs from 5-19 February.