NHL players may have to compete on untested ice due to construction delays for Olympics in Milan

ROME (AP) — Forget about thin ice. For now, there’s no ice.

With NHL players preparing to return to the Olympics for the first time in more than a decade, construction on the main hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Local organizers confirmed to The Associated Press on Wednesday that the main test event for the 16,000-seat Santagiulia arena that was scheduled for December has been moved to a smaller arena — and that no new test event has been scheduled yet.

The issue raises the prospect that there might not be a game held in the main arena until the puck is dropped for the women’s preliminary round competition at the Olympics on Feb. 5 — one day before the opening ceremony.

“It’s going to be very close to the start of the games, the timeline is very