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Put aside thin ice. For now, there’s no ice.

As NHL athletes preparing to make a comeback to the Olympics for the initial occasion in over a decade, construction on the main hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Officials 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 raises the prospect that there might not be a match held in the primary venue until the competition begins 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 beginning of the Olympics, the schedule is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milano Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated in a recent update.

The competition that was intended to evaluate the Santagiulia playing surface was a segment of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey location, which is being established inside a giant convention center on the outskirts of Milan and will stage lesser games during the games.

Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are tested at least the prior year to hosting medal events. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not only about the ice and ensuring that the rink is ready and safe. It’s additionally about testing food outlets, restrooms and everything else inside a brand-new contemporary stadium.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a private company, is slated to become Italy’s biggest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a possible future host of the ATP Finals tennis tournament.

In spite of the postponements and concerns, expensive tickets are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia arena. Tickets for the men’s gold medal final 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 for any other sports event at the Milan-Cortina Games. Only passes for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

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

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