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Forget about thin ice. Currently, there’s no ice.

With NHL players gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympics for the first time in over a ten years, construction on the primary hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Local organizers confirmed on Wednesday that the main trial competition for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia facility originally planned for December has been relocated to a more compact venue – 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.

“The timeline will be extremely tight to the beginning of the games, the schedule is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.

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 transferred to the Rho Fiera hockey location, which is being established inside a massive convention center on Milan’s outskirts and will host lesser games during the games.

Usually, freshly built Olympic facilities are tested at least the prior year to hosting podium competitions. And with a sizable hockey venue, it’s not just about the playing surface and ensuring that the playing surface is ready and secure. It’s also about checking food outlets, bathrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed contemporary stadium.

This new facility, which is being built by a commercial firm, is slated to become Italy’s largest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being considered as a potential future host of the ATP Finals tennis event.

In spite of the postponements and worries, expensive tickets are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia venue. 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). That’s more than the price of any other athletic competition at the Milano Cortina Games. Only tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies are priced higher.

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

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