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Forget about poor conditions. For now, the surface isn't ready.

With NHL players gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in over a ten years, construction on the primary hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Local organizers confirmed on Wednesday that the main test event for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia arena originally planned for December has been moved to a smaller arena – and that no new test event 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 games, the timeline is very tight. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.

The competition that was supposed to test the Santagiulia playing surface was a segment of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey venue, which is being set up inside a giant exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts and will host secondary matches during the games.

Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the prior year to hosting medal events. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not only about the playing surface and ensuring that the playing surface is prepared and secure. It’s also about testing food outlets, restrooms and everything else inside a newly constructed contemporary arena.

This new facility, 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 potential future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis event.

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

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

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