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Forget about thin ice. Currently, there’s no ice.

With NHL players gearing up to return to the Olympic Games for the first time in more than a decade, building work on the main hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

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

The issue raises the prospect that there might not be a game 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 inaugural event.

“It’s going to be extremely tight to the start of the Olympics, the timeline is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.

The competition that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia ice was part of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved to the Rho Fair hockey venue, which is being set up inside a giant exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will stage lesser games during the games.

Typically, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the prior year to hosting medal events. And with a sizable hockey arena, it’s not just about the playing surface and making sure that the rink is ready and safe. It’s additionally about checking concession stands, restrooms and all other amenities inside a brand-new modern arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a private company, is slated to become the nation's biggest indoor arena. Following the Olympics, it’s being considered as a possible upcoming venue of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.

Despite the postponements and concerns, high-priced tickets are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia arena. Tickets for the men’s gold medal final on 22 February – the closing day of the games – are going for as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). This exceeds for any other athletic competition at the Milano Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

The comeback of NHL stars at the Olympics was announced in February of last year, with the premier hockey league permitting its players to compete in the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

Men's Olympic hockey tournament is scheduled to run from 11-22 February. The women’s event occurs from 5-19 February.