As a result of the ban on contact sports in Santa Clara County, the Sharks held their training camp in Arizona and were given an eight-game road trip to start the season in the hopes that there would be more clarity on whether or not they’d be able to return home by then. That isn’t the case as the team announced that they will host their first two ’home’ games against Vegas in Glendale where the Coyotes play. Team president Jonathan Beecher released the following statement about their hopes to return to San Jose soon:
We feel that we have put significant precautions in place, including daily COVID-19 testing of the athletes and support staff, to allow for us to safely return to play games at SAP Center, while not exposing the community to any additional health risk. In our discussions with County officials over the past several months, we have shared our detailed return-to-play plans and are hopeful that we can find practical solutions to this difficult situation very soon.
Following this two-game set, the Sharks are back on the road for four more games with their next home games coming February 13th and 15th. Accordingly, the team hasn’t made a decision yet on their plans for those contests. The Coyotes also have home games those days so if San Jose is unable to return home by then, there will likely be some changes to their schedule coming over the next couple of weeks.