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

With NHL players preparing to make a comeback to the Olympics for the first time in more than a ten years, building work on the primary hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the main test event for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia facility that was scheduled for December has been relocated to a more compact arena – and that no additional trial has been arranged yet.

The issue creates the possibility that there might not be a game held in the main arena until the puck is dropped for the women's initial games at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the inaugural event.

“It’s going to be extremely tight to the beginning of the Olympics, the schedule is very tight. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.

The event that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia ice was a segment of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been transferred to the Rho Fair 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, new Olympic venues are tested at least the prior year to holding podium competitions. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not only about the ice and making sure that the playing surface is prepared and secure. It’s also about testing food outlets, restrooms and everything else inside a newly constructed contemporary arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being built by a private company, is slated to become the nation's biggest indoor arena. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed 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. Tickets for the men’s gold medal final on 22 February – the final day of the games – are going for as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). That’s more than the price of any other athletic competition at the Milan-Cortina Games. Solely passes for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

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

Men's Olympic hockey tournament is set to run from 11-22 February. Women's tournament runs from 5-19 February.