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Forget about poor conditions. Currently, there’s no ice.

As NHL athletes gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the first time in over a decade, building work on the main hockey venue for the Milan-Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Local organizers announced on Wednesday that the primary trial competition for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia facility originally planned for December has been relocated to a smaller venue – and that no additional trial has been arranged yet.

The issue raises the prospect 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 – one day before the inaugural event.

“The timeline will be extremely tight to the start of the Olympics, the schedule is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier stated recently.

The competition that was supposed to test the Santagiulia playing surface was a segment of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fair hockey location, which is being established inside a massive exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts and will stage secondary matches during the games.

Typically, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the year before to hosting medal events. And with a sizable hockey arena, it’s not just about the ice and ensuring that the rink is prepared and safe. It’s additionally about testing food outlets, bathrooms and everything else inside a brand-new modern arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a commercial firm, is scheduled to become the nation's biggest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a potential future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.

Despite the delays and worries, high-priced passes 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 Olympics – are going for as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). This exceeds the price of any other athletic competition at the Milano Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the inaugural and final events cost more.

The comeback of NHL players at the Olympics was revealed in February of last year, with the world’s top hockey organization permitting its athletes to compete in the Winter Games for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

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