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Put aside poor conditions. For now, there’s no ice.

As NHL players preparing to make a comeback to the Olympics for the initial occasion in more than a decade, construction on the primary hockey venue 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-capacity Santagiulia facility originally planned for December has been moved to a smaller arena – and that no additional trial has been arranged yet.

This situation creates the possibility that there might not be a game held in the main arena until the competition begins for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – one day before the inaugural event.

“The timeline will be very close to the start of the Olympics, the schedule is very tight. However, we were aware,” Milano Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.

The event that was intended to evaluate the Santagiulia ice was a segment of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey venue, which is being established inside a giant convention center on the outskirts of Milan and will host lesser games during the games.

Usually, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the prior year to holding podium competitions. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not just about the playing surface and ensuring that the playing surface is prepared and secure. It’s additionally about testing food outlets, bathrooms and everything else inside a brand-new modern arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being built by a commercial firm, is slated to become Italy’s biggest indoor arena. For after the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a potential future host of the ATP Finals tennis tournament.

Despite the postponements and worries, high-priced passes are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia venue. Seats for the men’s gold medal 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 the price of any other athletic competition at the Milan-Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the inaugural and final events 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 permitting its players to compete in the Winter Games for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

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