MILAN — The first game staged inside the main venue where hockey will be played at the Milan-Cortina Olympics had to be delayed for five minutes to repair a hole in the ice, but the players who christened Santagiulia Arena on Friday night spoke of conditions that improved the longer their Italian Cup semifinal went on.

“I didn’t feel any holes anymore on the ice during the second and the third period,” Varese Hockey forward Tommaso Terzago said. “For sure, during the first one, at some point personally, I put the point of my skate in the hole. There was nothing under the point of my skate, so I had a little sensation. Then they solved it.”

“It’s still a work in progress, but the ice was pretty OK,” Florian Wieser of SV Kaltern/Caldaro said. “It was not bad. I talked with the Zamboni guy. He said it will be good. It was pretty good today, like not bad.

“I think maybe not perfect, but when the NHLers are coming, I think it will be good.”

That was an encouraging message coming out of a game played between teams from the second division of Italian men’s hockey. There have been considerable concerns from the NHL and NHL Players’ Association about construction delays that pushed this test event back to less than four weeks from the start of the Olympics.

The primary goal of the seven games played here this weekend is to test the ice under conditions that mimic what they’ll face during the Games and work through any issues that arise.

The NHL sent ice technicians to Milan over a month ago to assist local crews in getting the venue ready. Don Moffatt of the Colorado Avalanche was also hired by the Milan Cortina Organizing Committee and oversaw the ice installation at Santagiulia that began on Dec. 20. That was just after deputy commissioner Bill Daly delivered a stern warning about the state of an Olympic tournament 12 years in the making: “Obviously, if the players feel like the ice is unsafe, we’re not going to play. It’s as simple as that.”

Friday’s game between Kaltern/Caldaro and Varese was played before a few thousand spectators who chanted throughout the night. The first goal in the building was scored by Varese’s Raphaël Bastille, the lone Canadian on either team. Perhaps that’s a good omen for his countrymen, who are scheduled to open their Olympic tournament here against Czechia on Feb. 12.

Bastille spent parts of two seasons playing for the QMJHL’s Rimouski Oceanic and is in his sixth professional season in Europe. He told The Athletic that the ice surface felt a little harder than what he’s used to.

“It was the first time, so it’s not perfect,” Bastille said. “There was some holes in the ice. Also, there was a lot of snow, but at least they shoveled it. The quality was quite good for the first (game).”

The status of construction here has been a source of significant interest from various points across the globe, as Wieser learned Thursday. He posted a series of images and videos from inside Santagiulia to his and saw them explode, with one video receiving more than 8 million impressions.