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Put aside poor conditions. Currently, the surface isn't ready.

With NHL athletes preparing to make a comeback to the Olympics for the first time in over a decade, building work on the main hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Local organizers confirmed on Wednesday that the primary test event for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia arena originally planned for December has been relocated to a smaller arena – and that no new test event has been arranged yet.

This situation creates the possibility that there may not be a game 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 opening ceremony.

“It’s going to be extremely tight to the start of the Olympics, the timeline is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said in a recent update.

The event that was intended to evaluate the Santagiulia ice was a segment of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fair hockey venue, which is being set up inside a massive convention center 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 only about the ice and ensuring that the rink is ready and safe. It’s also about checking concession stands, bathrooms and all other amenities inside a brand-new contemporary stadium.

This new facility, which is being built by a private company, is slated to become Italy’s largest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being considered as a potential upcoming venue of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.

In spite of the postponements and worries, expensive passes are already being purchased for matches at the Santagiulia arena. Tickets for the men’s gold medal 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 sports event at the Milan-Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the inaugural and final events cost more.

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

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