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

As NHL players gearing up to return to the Olympic Games for the first time in more than a ten years, construction on the main hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Officials announced 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 additional trial has been arranged yet.

This situation creates the possibility that there might not be a match held in the main arena until the competition begins for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the opening ceremony.

“It’s going to be very close to the beginning of the games, the timeline is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said in a recent update.

The event that was supposed to test the Santagiulia playing surface was part of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved to the Rho Fair hockey venue, which is being established inside a massive exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will host secondary matches during the games.

Usually, new Olympic venues are tested at least the year before to hosting podium competitions. And with a sizable hockey venue, it’s not only about the ice and making sure that the playing surface is ready and safe. It’s additionally about checking concession stands, bathrooms and everything else inside a brand-new modern arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being built by a commercial firm, is scheduled to become Italy’s largest covered stadium. For after the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a potential upcoming venue of the ATP Tour Finals tennis event.

Despite the postponements and worries, high-priced tickets are already being purchased for events at the Santagiulia arena. Seats for the men’s gold medal final on 22 February – the closing day of the games – are going for as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). That’s more than 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 announced in February of last year, with the world’s top hockey league permitting its players to compete in the Winter Games for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

The men’s Olympic hockey tournament is set to run from 11-22 February. The women’s tournament runs from 5-19 February.