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

With NHL athletes gearing up to return to the Olympics for the first time in over a ten years, construction on the main hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

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

The issue raises the prospect that there might not be a match held in the main arena until the competition begins for the women's initial games at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the opening ceremony.

“It’s going to be very close to the beginning of the Olympics, the schedule is very tight. However, we were aware,” Milano Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier said in a recent update.

The event that was intended to test the Santagiulia ice was a segment of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been transferred to the Rho Fiera hockey location, which is being set up inside a massive convention center on the outskirts of Milan and will stage secondary matches during the Olympics.

Typically, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the prior year to holding podium competitions. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not only about the playing surface and ensuring that the rink is ready and secure. It’s also about testing concession stands, bathrooms and everything else inside a newly constructed modern stadium.

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

Despite the delays and concerns, expensive passes are already being purchased for matches at the Santagiulia arena. Seats for the men's championship game on 22 February – the final day of the Olympics – are priced at as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). That’s more than for any other athletic competition at the Milan-Cortina Games. Solely passes 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 league permitting its athletes to participate in the Winter Olympics for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

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