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Put aside poor conditions. Currently, there’s no ice.

As NHL players preparing to return to the Olympics for the first time in over a decade, construction on the main hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the main trial competition for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia arena that was scheduled for December has been relocated to a smaller arena – and that no additional trial has been arranged yet.

This situation raises the prospect that there may not be a game held in the primary venue until the competition begins for the women's initial games at the Olympics on 5 February – one day before the opening ceremony.

“The timeline will be extremely tight to the start of the games, the timeline is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milano Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier stated recently.

The event that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia playing surface was a segment 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 giant convention center on Milan’s outskirts and will stage secondary matches during the games.

Typically, new Olympic venues are tested at least the year before to hosting podium competitions. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not only about the ice and ensuring that the playing surface is ready and secure. It’s also about testing concession stands, restrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed modern arena.

This new facility, which is being constructed by a private company, is scheduled to become Italy’s largest indoor arena. For after the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a possible future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis event.

Despite the delays and worries, high-priced tickets are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia venue. 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 (over $1,600). That’s more than for any other sports event at the Milan-Cortina Games. Only passes for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

The return of NHL stars at the Olympics was revealed last February, with the world’s top hockey organization allowing its athletes to compete in the Winter Games for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

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