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Put aside poor conditions. For now, the surface isn't ready.

As NHL athletes preparing to return to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in over a decade, construction on the main hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the primary trial competition for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia facility originally planned for December has been relocated to a more compact arena – and that no additional trial has been scheduled yet.

This situation raises the prospect that there may not be a game held in the primary venue until the puck is dropped for the women’s preliminary round 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 timeline is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated in a recent update.

The competition that was intended 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 location, which is being set up inside a giant convention center on the outskirts of Milan and will host secondary matches during the Olympics.

Typically, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the year before to hosting medal events. And with a sizable hockey venue, it’s not only about the playing surface and ensuring that the rink is ready and safe. It’s also about checking concession stands, restrooms and everything else inside a brand-new modern stadium.

This new facility, which is being constructed by a commercial firm, is scheduled to become the nation's largest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a potential future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis event.

Despite the delays and worries, expensive passes are already being purchased for events at the Santagiulia venue. Tickets for the men’s gold medal final on 22 February – the closing day of the Olympics – are priced at as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). This exceeds the price of any other athletic competition at the Milano Cortina Games. Only tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies cost more.

The return of NHL stars at the Olympics was revealed last February, with the world’s top hockey league permitting its athletes to compete in the Winter Games for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

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