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Put aside thin ice. Currently, there’s no ice.

With NHL athletes preparing to return to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in more than a decade, construction on the primary hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Officials confirmed on Wednesday that the primary test event for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia facility that was scheduled 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 match held in the primary venue until the puck is dropped for the women's initial games at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the opening ceremony.

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

The event that was supposed to test the Santagiulia ice was a segment of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey location, which is being set up inside a giant exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will stage secondary matches during the games.

Typically, new Olympic venues are trialled at least the prior year to holding medal events. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not just about the ice and making sure that the rink is ready and secure. It’s also about checking food outlets, bathrooms and all other amenities inside a brand-new contemporary arena.

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

In spite of the delays and worries, expensive tickets are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia venue. Tickets for the men's championship 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 Milano Cortina Games. Solely passes for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

The comeback of NHL players at the Olympics was revealed last February, with the premier hockey league permitting its athletes to compete in the Winter Olympics for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

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