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Forget about thin ice. For now, there’s no ice.

With NHL players gearing up to return to the Olympics for the first time in more than a ten years, construction on the primary hockey venue for the Milan-Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Officials confirmed 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 might not be a game 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 very close to the beginning of the Olympics, the timeline is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.

The event that was supposed to test the Santagiulia playing surface was part of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been transferred to the Rho Fair hockey location, which is being set up inside a giant exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts and will host secondary matches during the Olympics.

Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are tested at least the prior year to holding podium competitions. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not only about the playing surface and ensuring that the rink is prepared and safe. It’s also about checking concession stands, bathrooms and everything else inside a brand-new modern arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a commercial firm, is slated to become the nation's largest indoor arena. For after the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a potential future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis event.

Despite the postponements and worries, 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 (more than $1,600). This exceeds for any other sports event at the Milano Cortina Games. Only tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies are priced higher.

The comeback of NHL players at the Olympics was announced in February of last year, with the world’s top 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 set to run from 11-22 February. Women's event runs from 5-19 February.