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Forget about poor conditions. For now, the surface isn't ready.

As NHL players preparing to return to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in over a decade, construction on the primary hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the main test event for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia arena originally planned for December has been moved to a more compact arena – and that no additional trial has been scheduled yet.

This situation raises the prospect that there might not be a match held in the primary venue until the competition begins for the women's initial games at the Olympics on 5 February – one day before the opening ceremony.

“The timeline will be extremely tight to the beginning of the games, the timeline is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated in a recent update.

The event that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia playing surface was a segment of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey location, which is being set up inside a giant convention center on Milan’s outskirts and will stage secondary matches during the games.

Usually, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the year before to holding podium competitions. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not just about the ice and making sure that the playing surface is ready and secure. It’s also about testing concession stands, restrooms and everything else inside a newly constructed modern arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a private company, is scheduled to become Italy’s largest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a potential future host of the ATP Finals tennis event.

In spite of the delays and worries, expensive tickets are already being purchased for matches at the Santagiulia arena. Seats for the men's championship game on 22 February – the final day of the Olympics – are going for as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). This exceeds for any other athletic competition at the Milan-Cortina Games. Only passes for the opening and closing ceremonies cost more.

The comeback of NHL players at the Olympics was announced last February, with the world’s top hockey league allowing 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. Women's tournament occurs from 5-19 February.