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Put aside thin ice. For now, 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 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-capacity Santagiulia arena that was scheduled for December has been relocated to a more compact venue – and that no new test event has been scheduled yet.

The issue creates the possibility that there may 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 – 24 hours before the opening ceremony.

“The timeline will be extremely tight to the beginning of the games, the schedule is very tight. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated in a recent update.

The event that was intended to test the Santagiulia ice was part of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey location, which is being set up inside a massive exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts and will stage lesser games during the Olympics.

Usually, new Olympic venues are tested at least the year before to hosting medal events. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not only about the playing surface and making sure that the playing surface is ready and safe. It’s also about checking concession stands, restrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed contemporary stadium.

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

Despite the delays and concerns, high-priced tickets are already being purchased for matches at the Santagiulia arena. Tickets for the men's championship final on 22 February – the closing day of the games – are priced at as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). This exceeds the price of any other sports event at the Milano Cortina Games. Solely passes for the inaugural and final events cost more.

The return of NHL stars at the Olympics was announced last February, 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 competition is scheduled to run from 11-22 February. The women’s event runs from 5-19 February.