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Put aside thin ice. Currently, there’s no ice.

As NHL athletes preparing to return to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in more than a ten years, building work on the primary hockey venue for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Local organizers announced on Wednesday that the main trial competition for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia facility originally planned for December has been relocated to a more compact arena – and that no new test event has been arranged yet.

The issue raises the prospect that there might 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 opening ceremony.

“The timeline will be extremely tight to the start of the Olympics, the timeline is very tight. But we knew that,” Milano Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier stated in a recent update.

The event that was intended to evaluate the Santagiulia playing surface was part of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been transferred to the Rho Fiera hockey venue, which is being established inside a giant exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will stage lesser games during the games.

Typically, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the prior year to hosting podium competitions. And with a sizable hockey venue, it’s not only about the playing surface and ensuring that the playing surface is ready and safe. It’s also about checking food outlets, bathrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed contemporary arena.

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

In spite of the delays and worries, high-priced tickets are already being purchased for matches at the Santagiulia arena. Seats 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 for any other athletic competition at the Milano Cortina Games. Only passes for the inaugural and final events cost more.

The return of NHL players at the Olympics was revealed last February, with the premier hockey organization permitting its athletes to participate 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.