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Put aside poor conditions. For now, there’s no ice.

With NHL players gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in more than a ten years, building work on the main hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Local organizers confirmed on Wednesday that the primary test event for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia facility originally planned for December has been moved to a more compact venue – and that no new test event has been scheduled yet.

The issue creates the possibility that there may not be a game held in the primary venue until the puck is dropped for the women's initial games 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 timeline is very tight. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.

The competition that was intended to test the Santagiulia playing surface was part of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved to the Rho Fair hockey location, which is being set up inside a giant convention center on Milan’s outskirts and will stage lesser games during the Olympics.

Usually, freshly built Olympic facilities are tested at least the prior year to holding podium competitions. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not just about the ice and ensuring that the playing surface is prepared and safe. It’s additionally about testing concession stands, bathrooms and everything else inside a brand-new contemporary stadium.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being built by a private company, is slated to become the nation's largest covered stadium. For after the Olympics, it’s being considered as a potential upcoming venue of the ATP Finals tennis event.

In spite of the delays and concerns, high-priced passes 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 games – are priced at as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). This exceeds for any other athletic competition at the Milan-Cortina Games. Only tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies cost more.

The comeback of NHL players at the Olympics was revealed in February of last year, with the world’s top hockey organization permitting its athletes to compete in the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

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