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Forget about thin ice. For now, there’s no ice.

As NHL players gearing up to return to the Olympic Games for the first time in over a decade, building work on the main hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Local organizers confirmed on Wednesday that the primary trial competition for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia arena that was scheduled for December has been moved to a more compact arena – and that no additional trial has been arranged yet.

This situation creates the possibility that there may not be a match held in the main arena until the puck is dropped for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – one day before the inaugural event.

“The timeline will be extremely tight to the start of the Olympics, the schedule is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milano Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated recently.

The event that was supposed to test the Santagiulia playing surface was part of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fair hockey location, which is being established inside a massive exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will host lesser games during the Olympics.

Typically, new Olympic venues are tested at least the year before to hosting medal events. And with a sizable hockey venue, it’s not just about the playing surface and ensuring that the playing surface is prepared and secure. It’s additionally about checking concession stands, bathrooms and everything else inside a newly constructed contemporary stadium.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being built by a private company, is slated to become Italy’s largest indoor arena. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a potential upcoming venue of the ATP Finals tennis event.

In spite of the postponements and concerns, expensive passes are already being sold for events at the Santagiulia arena. Seats for the men's championship game on 22 February – the closing day of the Olympics – are going for as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). This exceeds the price of any other sports event at the Milano Cortina Games. Solely passes for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

The comeback of NHL players at the Olympics was announced in February of last year, with the premier hockey organization allowing its players to participate in the Winter Olympics for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

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