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

With NHL athletes preparing to return to the Olympic Games for the first time in more than a ten years, building work on the primary hockey venue for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Officials confirmed on Wednesday that the primary trial competition for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia facility that was scheduled for December has been moved to a smaller venue – and that no new test event has been scheduled yet.

This situation raises the prospect that there might not be a game held in the primary venue until the puck is dropped for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the opening ceremony.

“It’s going to be extremely tight to the start of the Olympics, the schedule is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milano Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.

The event that was intended to evaluate the Santagiulia playing surface was part of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been transferred to the Rho Fair hockey location, which is being set up inside a giant convention center on the outskirts of Milan and will host lesser games during the games.

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

The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a commercial firm, is scheduled to become the nation's largest covered stadium. For after the Olympics, it’s being considered as a possible future host of the ATP Finals tennis event.

Despite the delays and concerns, expensive tickets are already being purchased for events at the Santagiulia venue. Seats for the men’s gold medal game on 22 February – the closing day of the games – are priced at as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). That’s more than for any other athletic competition at the Milano Cortina Games. Only 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 premier hockey league allowing its athletes to compete in the Winter Olympics for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

Men's Olympic hockey tournament is scheduled to take place from 11-22 February. Women's event runs from 5-19 February.