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Forget about poor conditions. Currently, the surface isn't ready.

With NHL players preparing to return to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in more than a decade, building work on the primary hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the main trial competition for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia arena originally planned for December has been moved to a smaller venue – and that no additional trial has been arranged yet.

This situation creates the possibility that there may not be a match held in the primary venue 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 games, the schedule is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier said in a recent update.

The competition that was supposed to test the Santagiulia playing surface was part of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fair hockey location, which is being established inside a massive convention center on the outskirts of Milan and will stage secondary matches during the Olympics.

Usually, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the year before to hosting podium competitions. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not just about the playing surface and ensuring that the rink is prepared and secure. It’s also about testing food outlets, restrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed modern arena.

This new facility, which is being constructed by a private company, is slated to become the nation's biggest covered stadium. For after the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a possible upcoming venue of the ATP Finals tennis event.

In spite of the delays and concerns, high-priced tickets are already being purchased for events at the Santagiulia venue. Tickets for the men’s gold medal game on 22 February – the final day of the Olympics – are priced at as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). That’s more than the price of any other athletic competition at the Milano Cortina Games. Only tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies are priced higher.

The return of NHL stars 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.

The men’s Olympic hockey tournament is set to take place from 11-22 February. The women’s tournament runs from 5-19 February.