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

With NHL players preparing to make a comeback to the Olympics for the initial occasion in more than a ten years, construction on the main hockey venue for the Milan-Cortina Games is cutting it close.

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

This situation raises the prospect 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.

“The timeline will 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 competition that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia playing surface was a segment of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been transferred to the Rho Fair hockey venue, which is being established inside a massive convention center on the outskirts of Milan and will host secondary matches during the games.

Typically, new Olympic venues are tested at least the prior year to holding medal events. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not just about the playing surface and making sure that the rink is prepared and safe. It’s additionally about testing food outlets, restrooms and all other amenities inside a brand-new modern arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being built by a commercial firm, is slated to become the nation's biggest indoor arena. 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 venue. Seats for the men’s gold medal final on 22 February – the final day of the games – are priced at as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). This exceeds for any other athletic competition at the Milan-Cortina Games. Only tickets for the inaugural and final events cost more.

The comeback of NHL players at the Olympics was revealed last February, with the premier hockey league allowing 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 occurs from 5-19 February.