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

As NHL players preparing to make a comeback to the Olympics for the first time in over a ten years, construction on the primary hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Local organizers announced on Wednesday that the primary test event for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia facility originally planned for December has been moved to a more compact venue – and that no additional trial has been scheduled yet.

This situation raises the prospect that there might not be a match held in the primary venue until the puck is dropped for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the inaugural event.

“The timeline will be extremely tight to the start of the Olympics, the timeline is very tight. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said recently.

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 Fiera hockey location, which is being set up inside a massive exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will stage lesser games during the games.

Usually, new Olympic venues are tested at least the prior year to holding podium competitions. And with a sizable hockey venue, it’s not just about the ice and making sure that the playing surface is prepared and safe. It’s also about checking concession stands, restrooms and everything else inside a brand-new contemporary stadium.

This new facility, which is being built by a private company, is scheduled to become the nation's largest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being considered as a potential future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.

In spite of the postponements and concerns, expensive tickets are already being sold for events at the Santagiulia venue. Tickets for the men’s gold medal game on 22 February – the final day of the Olympics – are priced at as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). That’s more than the price of any other sports event at the Milano Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the inaugural and final events cost more.

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

Men's Olympic hockey tournament is scheduled to take place from 11-22 February. The women’s tournament runs from 5-19 February.