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Put aside poor conditions. Currently, there’s no ice.

With NHL athletes preparing to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the first time in over a decade, construction on the main hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the main trial competition for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia facility that was scheduled for December has been relocated to a smaller venue – and that no new test event has been scheduled yet.

This situation creates the possibility that there may not be a match held in the primary venue until the competition begins for the women's initial games at the Olympics on 5 February – one day before the inaugural event.

“The timeline will be very close to the beginning of the Olympics, the timeline is very tight. However, we were aware,” Milano Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said in a recent update.

The event that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia ice was part of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey venue, which is being set up inside a giant exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts and will stage secondary matches during the games.

Typically, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the prior year to holding podium competitions. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not just about the playing surface and making sure that the playing surface is ready and secure. It’s also about testing concession stands, restrooms and all other amenities inside a brand-new modern stadium.

This new facility, which is being constructed by a private company, is slated to become the nation's biggest covered stadium. For after the Olympics, it’s being considered as a potential upcoming venue of the ATP Finals tennis tournament.

In spite of the postponements and worries, expensive tickets are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia venue. Seats for the men's championship 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 Milano Cortina Games. Solely passes for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

The return of NHL stars at the Olympics was announced in February of last year, with the premier hockey organization permitting its players to participate in the Winter Olympics for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

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