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Forget about poor conditions. Currently, there’s no ice.

With NHL athletes preparing to return to the Olympics for the first time in more than a decade, construction on the main hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Local organizers confirmed on Wednesday that the main trial competition for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia arena that was scheduled for December has been relocated to a smaller venue – and that no new test event has been arranged yet.

The issue raises the prospect that there might not be a match held in the main arena until the puck is dropped for the women's initial games at the Olympics on 5 February – one day before the inaugural event.

“It’s going to be extremely tight to the beginning of the games, the schedule is very tight. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated in a recent update.

The event that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia ice was part of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been transferred to the Rho Fair hockey location, which is being set up inside a giant exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts and will stage secondary matches during the games.

Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the year before to holding medal events. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not just about the ice and making sure that the rink is prepared and safe. It’s additionally about checking concession stands, bathrooms and all other amenities inside a brand-new modern arena.

This new facility, which is being built by a commercial firm, is scheduled to become the nation's largest indoor arena. Following the Olympics, it’s being considered as a potential upcoming venue of the ATP Tour Finals tennis event.

Despite the postponements and concerns, expensive tickets are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia venue. Seats for the men’s gold medal game on 22 February – the closing day of the Olympics – are going for as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). That’s more than the price of any other sports event at the Milan-Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies cost more.

The comeback of NHL stars at the Olympics was announced last February, with the world’s top hockey organization permitting its players to participate in the Winter Games for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

Men's Olympic hockey competition is set to take place from 11-22 February. Women's tournament occurs from 5-19 February.