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

As NHL players preparing to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the first time in over a decade, building work on the primary hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Local organizers announced on Wednesday that the main test event for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia arena originally planned for December has been relocated to a more compact arena – 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 primary venue 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 very close to the beginning of the games, the schedule is very tight. But we knew that,” Milano Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated in a recent update.

The competition that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia ice was part of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey venue, which is being established inside a giant exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts and will host secondary matches during the games.

Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are tested at least the prior year to holding medal events. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not only about the playing surface and ensuring that the playing surface is prepared and secure. It’s also about checking concession stands, bathrooms and everything else inside a newly constructed modern stadium.

This new facility, which is being built by a commercial firm, is scheduled to become Italy’s largest covered stadium. For after the Olympics, it’s being considered as a possible upcoming venue of the ATP Finals tennis event.

In spite of the delays and concerns, high-priced passes are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia venue. Tickets for the men's championship final on 22 February – the final day of the Olympics – are going for as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). That’s more than for any other sports event at the Milano Cortina Games. Only tickets for the inaugural and final events cost more.

The return of NHL players at the Olympics was revealed last February, with the world’s top hockey organization allowing its players to participate in the Winter Games for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

The men’s Olympic hockey competition is set to run from 11-22 February. The women’s event runs from 5-19 February.