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Forget about thin ice. For now, there’s no ice.

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

Local organizers confirmed on Wednesday that the primary test event for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia facility originally planned for December has been relocated to a smaller venue – and that no new test event has been arranged yet.

The issue raises the prospect that there may not be a match held in the primary venue until the puck is dropped for the women's initial games at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the inaugural event.

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

The event that was supposed to test the Santagiulia ice was part of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey location, which is being established inside a massive convention center on the outskirts of Milan and will host secondary matches during the games.

Typically, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the year before to holding medal events. And with a sizable hockey venue, it’s not only about the ice and making sure that the playing surface is prepared and secure. It’s additionally about testing food outlets, bathrooms and everything else inside a brand-new contemporary stadium.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a private company, is slated to become the nation's largest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being considered as a potential upcoming venue of the ATP Tour Finals tennis event.

Despite the delays and worries, high-priced tickets are already being sold for events at the Santagiulia venue. Seats for the men's championship final on 22 February – the final day of the games – are going for as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). This exceeds for any other athletic competition at the Milan-Cortina Games. Solely passes for the inaugural and final events cost more.

The return of NHL stars at the Olympics was announced in February of last year, with the premier hockey league allowing its players to compete in the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

Men's Olympic hockey competition is scheduled to take place from 11-22 February. Women's tournament occurs from 5-19 February.