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

As NHL players gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympics for the first time in more than a ten years, building work on the main hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the main test event for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia facility that was scheduled for December has been moved to a more compact arena – and that no additional trial has been arranged yet.

The issue creates the possibility that there may not be a match held in the primary venue until the competition begins for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – one day before the inaugural event.

“The timeline will be very close to the beginning of the Olympics, the timeline is very tight. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.

The event that was supposed to test the Santagiulia ice was a segment of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey venue, which is being established inside a massive convention center on Milan’s outskirts and will host lesser games during the Olympics.

Usually, new Olympic venues are tested at least the year before to holding podium competitions. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not just about the playing surface and making sure that the rink is ready and safe. It’s also about checking food outlets, restrooms and everything else inside a newly constructed modern arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a commercial firm, is slated to become Italy’s biggest indoor arena. For after the Olympics, it’s being considered as a possible future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.

Despite the delays and worries, expensive tickets are already being sold for events at the Santagiulia arena. Tickets for the men’s gold medal game on 22 February – the closing day of the games – are going for as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). This exceeds the price of any other sports event at the Milano Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the inaugural and final events cost more.

The comeback of NHL stars at the Olympics was revealed 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 occurs from 5-19 February.