The NHL reportedly will close team locker rooms to media to avoid virus

Coronavirus has league changing media protocol

The NHL will become the first of the major sports leagues to close its locker rooms to the media due to the spread of the coronavirus, according to multiple reports Saturday.

The Tampa Bay Times reported the league is expected to send out a memo Monday instructing teams to close their locker rooms. All media access would be conducted by scrums and news conferences outside the rooms.

The Golden Knights closed their locker room following practice Saturday at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta.

The NBA, Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer are currently weighing plans to restrict media access to locker rooms as a precaution to protect players from exposure.

Meanwhile, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Saturday there are no immediate plans for games to be played without fans in arenas, although that could change with the coronavirus outbreak being so fluid.

“You know what, I don’t want to create any speculation or hysteria. There are obviously a variety of consequences that we may have to focus on, and we’ll do that at the appropriate time,” he said at BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida, where the Panthers were hosting the Montreal Canadiens. “But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here, OK?

“We’re staying on top of it and we’re in constant communication with our clubs and the (NHL) Players’ Association, and we’re going to deal with this in as thorough, professional, on-top-of-it manner as possible. But let’s everybody take a deep breath.”

In San Jose, California, where a number of coronavirus cases are being treated, a crowd of 16,018 attended the Sharks’ 2-1 loss to Ottawa on Saturday in the 17,562-seat SAP Center.

Also in hockey Saturday, the women’s world championships in Canada were canceled because of the outbreak. The two-week tournament was set to open March 31, with venues in Halifax and Truro, Nova Scotia.

NBA

The NBA wants its teams to prepare to play games without fans if necessary because of the crisis, but

LeBron James already says he won’t play basketball in an empty arena.

The league circulated a memo to its teams Friday telling them to prepare in case it becomes necessary to play games without fans or media, as sports leagues in Europe have already done. The memo detailed potential actions that teams might need to take “if it were to become necessary to play a game with only essential staff present.”

But when James was asked about that possibility on Friday night, the NBA’s leading active scorer was definitive.

“We play games without the fans? Nah, that’s impossible,” James said. “I ain’t playing if I ain’t got the fans in the crowd. That’s who I play for. I play for my teammates, and I play for the fans. That’s what it’s all about. So if I show up to an arena and there ain’t no fans in there, I ain’t playing. They can do what they want to do.”

The memo, obtained by The Associated Press, says teams should identify which team and arena people would be necessary to conduct games, and be able to communicate quickly with nonessential staff, as well as ticket holders and corporate partners.

Teams should also be prepared “for the possibility of implementing temperature checks on players, team staff, referees, and anyone else who is essential to conducting such a game in the team’s arena.”

Major League Baseball

MLB sent a memo to teams 10 days ago sharing recommendations issued by the Centers for Disease Control aimed at stemming the virus outbreak. The league has formed a task force to monitor the situation and provided periodic updates to teams on measures to protect fans, players and team personnel — including the suggestion to have players pre-sign memorabilia.

With Opening Day about three weeks away, MLB has not issued a statement regarding the possibility of playing games in empty stadiums.

Tennis

Players at the BNP Paribas Open that starts on Wednesday will have to manage their own towels on court and ball kids will wear gloves while working matches at the combined men’s and women’s tournament at Indian Wells, in the Southern California desert.

Tournament organizers also are offering fans uneasy about the coronavirus a refund for this year’s event or a credit for next year.

Wilfredo Lee The Associated Press NHL commissioner Gary Bettman meets with the media Saturday to address how the coronavirus outbreak is impacting his league.