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

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

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

This situation raises the prospect that there may not be a match held in the main arena until the puck is dropped 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,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier said in a recent update.

The event that was intended to test the Santagiulia playing surface was a segment of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved to the Rho Fair hockey venue, which is being set up inside a massive exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts and will host secondary matches during the games.

Typically, new Olympic venues are tested at least the year before to holding medal events. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not just about the playing surface and ensuring that the rink is prepared and secure. It’s also about testing concession stands, bathrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed contemporary stadium.

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

Despite the postponements and worries, expensive tickets are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia arena. Seats for the men’s gold medal final on 22 February – the closing day of the Olympics – are priced at as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). This exceeds for any other athletic competition at the Milano Cortina Games. Only passes for the opening and closing ceremonies cost more.

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

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