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Put aside thin ice. Currently, there’s no ice.

With NHL athletes gearing up to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in more than a decade, building work on the primary hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Local organizers announced on Wednesday that the main trial competition for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia arena originally planned for December has been moved to a more compact arena – and that no additional trial has been arranged yet.

This situation raises the prospect that there may not be a match held in the main arena until the competition begins for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the opening ceremony.

“The timeline will be very close to the beginning of the Olympics, the timeline is very tight. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier said in a recent update.

The event that was intended to test the Santagiulia playing surface was a segment of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been transferred to the Rho Fiera hockey location, which is being established inside a giant exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts and will stage secondary matches during the games.

Usually, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the prior year to hosting podium competitions. And with a sizable hockey arena, it’s not only about the ice and ensuring that the rink is ready and secure. It’s additionally about testing concession stands, bathrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed contemporary stadium.

This new facility, which is being constructed 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 Tour Finals tennis tournament.

Despite the delays and worries, high-priced passes are already being purchased for events at the Santagiulia arena. Seats 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. Solely tickets for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

The comeback of NHL players at the Olympics was announced last February, with the world’s top hockey organization permitting its players to participate in the Winter Games for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

Men's Olympic hockey competition is set to run from 11-22 February. The women’s tournament runs from 5-19 February.