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

As NHL athletes gearing up to return to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in over a decade, construction on the primary hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the primary test event for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia facility originally planned for December has been relocated to a smaller venue – and that no new test event has been scheduled yet.

The issue raises the prospect that there may not be a game held in the main arena 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 beginning of the Olympics, the schedule is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milano Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier stated in a recent update.

The competition that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia ice was a segment of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved to the Rho Fair hockey location, which is being set up inside a giant convention center on the outskirts of Milan and will host secondary matches during the Olympics.

Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the prior year to hosting podium competitions. And with a sizable hockey venue, it’s not just about the ice and making sure that the playing surface is prepared and secure. It’s also about testing food outlets, bathrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed contemporary stadium.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being built by a commercial firm, is scheduled to become the nation's largest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being considered as a possible future host of the ATP Finals tennis tournament.

In spite of the delays and concerns, expensive tickets are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia venue. Seats for the men’s gold medal final on 22 February – the final day of the Olympics – are going for 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 opening and closing ceremonies are priced higher.

The return of NHL stars at the Olympics was announced in February of last year, with the premier hockey league allowing its athletes to compete in the Winter Olympics for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

The men’s Olympic hockey competition is scheduled to take place from 11-22 February. Women's event runs from 5-19 February.