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

With NHL players gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in over 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 that was scheduled for December has been moved to a more compact arena – and that no additional trial has been scheduled yet.

The issue raises the prospect 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 – 24 hours before the inaugural event.

“The timeline will be very close to the start of the games, the timeline is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.

The competition that was supposed to test the Santagiulia ice was a segment of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been transferred to the Rho Fiera hockey venue, which is being established inside a giant exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will host lesser games during the Olympics.

Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the prior year to holding podium competitions. And with a sizable hockey arena, it’s not just about the ice and ensuring that the rink is prepared and safe. It’s also about checking concession stands, restrooms and all other amenities inside a brand-new contemporary stadium.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a commercial firm, is scheduled to become the nation's biggest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a possible upcoming venue of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.

Despite the postponements and worries, high-priced tickets are already being sold for events at the Santagiulia arena. Tickets for the men's championship final on 22 February – the final day of the games – are priced at as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). This exceeds for any other athletic competition at the Milano Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

The return of NHL players at the Olympics was revealed last February, with the premier hockey organization permitting its players to participate in the Winter Games for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

The men’s Olympic hockey competition is set to run from 11-22 February. Women's tournament occurs from 5-19 February.