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

As NHL players gearing up to return to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in over a ten years, building work on the main hockey venue for the Milan-Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Officials confirmed on Wednesday that the primary test event for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia facility originally planned for December has been moved to a smaller arena – and that no additional trial has been scheduled yet.

This situation creates the possibility that there may not be a match held in the main arena until the competition begins for the women's initial games at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the opening ceremony.

“The timeline will be very close to the start of the Olympics, the timeline is highly compressed. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier stated recently.

The event that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia ice was part of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been transferred to the Rho Fair hockey location, which is being set up inside a massive convention center on the outskirts of Milan and will stage lesser games during the Olympics.

Usually, new Olympic venues are tested at least the year before to holding medal events. And with a sizable hockey venue, it’s not only about the playing surface and making sure that the playing surface is ready and safe. It’s additionally about checking food outlets, restrooms and everything else inside a brand-new modern stadium.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being constructed by a private company, is slated to become Italy’s largest indoor arena. Following the Olympics, it’s being eyed as a potential upcoming venue of the ATP Finals tennis event.

Despite the delays and worries, expensive tickets are already being purchased for matches at the Santagiulia venue. Seats for the men's championship game on 22 February – the closing day of the games – are priced at as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). This exceeds for any other sports event at the Milan-Cortina Games. Only tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies cost more.

The return of NHL stars at the Olympics was announced last February, with the world’s top hockey organization allowing its players to participate in the Winter Games for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

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