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Put aside poor conditions. For now, there’s no ice.

With NHL athletes preparing to make a comeback to the Olympics for the initial occasion in more than a ten years, construction on the main hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Local organizers confirmed on Wednesday that the primary trial competition for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia arena that was scheduled for December has been moved to a smaller arena – and that no additional trial has been scheduled yet.

The issue creates the possibility that there may not be a match held in the primary venue until the competition begins for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the opening ceremony.

“It’s going to be extremely tight to the start of the Olympics, the timeline is very tight. But we knew that,” Milano Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier stated in a recent update.

The competition that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia playing surface was part of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey location, which is being set up inside a giant convention center on the outskirts of Milan and will host lesser games during the games.

Usually, freshly built Olympic facilities are tested at least the year before to hosting medal events. And with a sizable hockey arena, it’s not just about the ice and making sure that the rink is ready and safe. It’s additionally about checking food outlets, restrooms and all other amenities inside a brand-new modern arena.

This new facility, 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 possible future host of the ATP Finals tennis tournament.

Despite the delays and worries, expensive passes are already being purchased for matches at the Santagiulia venue. Tickets for the men’s gold medal final on 22 February – the closing day of the games – are priced at as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). This exceeds the price of any other athletic competition at the Milano Cortina Games. Only passes for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

The return of NHL players at the Olympics was revealed in February of last year, with the premier hockey league permitting its athletes to participate in the Winter Games for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

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