SHARKS’ HERTL BACK AFTER VIRUS SCARE
SAN JOSE — The first night after he found out he had tested positive for the coronavirus, Tomas Hertl had a fever and sweated so much that he had to change the sheets in his bed.
For the next few days, he experienced headaches every time he stood up. He would take a three-hour nap, and feel more tired afterward than he was before.
Hertl no doubt experienced some difficult moments in the early days of living with COVID19. But the worst feeling for Hertl was finding out two days after his diagnosis that his wife, Aneta, also tested positive and experienced symptoms as well with a bad headache and cough. His infant son, Tobias, now 18 weeks old, also was infected.
“I knew he’d be probably fine, but you never know with this new virus what will happen with a baby,” Hertl said. “But he got through it pretty easily.”
Hertl said he felt better after about a week, but then had a rash on his body that lasted for two days. Per the American Academy of Dermatology Association, rashes can develop on some individuals with COVID19.
Everybody’s feeling better now, as Wednesday marked Hertl’s first time back on the ice since he landed in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol on Feb. 24, causing the NHL to shut down the Sharks’ practice facility for two days and postpone the Feb. 25 game with the Vegas Golden Knights. Per NHL and county protocols, Hertl had cardiac testing earlier this week.
“I feel actually good, not great on the ice after two weeks of doing nothing,” said Hertl, who added that he heard from Joe Thornton during his time away. “But I feel good now and ready
again to play some hockey.
“I can’t remember the last time I had two weeks of doing absolutely nothing, probably 10 years ago, maybe. It feels kind of weird, and a little sore after doing again something.”
Hertl was glad to hear that he did not infect any of his teammates, as the Sharks resumed their schedule Feb. 27 with a 7-6 loss to the St. Louis Blues. The Sharks went 2-3-1 in Hertl’s absence.
Hertl still does not know how he contracted the disease. When he was in San Jose, he said he didn’t go anywhere other than SAP Center, Sharks Ice and his home, and was vigilant about wearing a mask and regularly washing his hands.
The Sharks played the Blues in St. Louis on Feb. 18 and 20 and returned to San Jose on their team charter right after the second game of the series.
“Everybody on the plane was sitting next to a guy, and (Radim Simek) was next to me, and nobody got it, so it was kind of weird it was only me,” Hertl said of the flight home. “But I’m happy that nobody else has to get through it and be out that long.
“It kind of proved to me that it can happen to anybody, anytime.”
After two weeks of inactivity, Hertl said he could barely walk Wednesday morning after he went through some off-ice conditioning the day before. The Sharks will practice again Thursday, giving Hertl a better idea of whether he can play Friday in Anaheim.
Hertl skated on a line with Timo Meier and Rudolfs Balcers at SAP Center. Meier has missed the last two games with a lowerbody injury and is considered day-to-day, but could also be an option to play Friday as the Sharks start a four-game road trip.
“I want to see how he feels the next couple of days here,” Boughner said Hertl. “I’m glad that we have a little two-day break in our schedule where he can get some practice time.”
Hertl had to miss the final 22 games of last season when he tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee in January 2020.
Hertl has missed at least one game in seven of his eight NHL seasons, including extensive time in 201314 and 2016-17.
He got past last season’s injury and was ready to play from the start of this season. Instead of a knee issue this year, he contracted COVID-19.
“You have to deal with it and just get through it and be positive,” Hertl said. “I want to play as soon as possible because I’m done missing games.”
Hertl had been averaging over 19 minutes of ice time per game this season. He’s used in all situations, including the power play and penalty kill, and is the Sharks’ faceoff leader.
“He worked out yesterday, did some off-ice stuff and I know he felt extremely tired,” Boughner said. “He’s deconditioned, so we’ve got to use our heads here and if he does play, it may be a situation where we’re going to have to back his ice time off a bit, see how he feels.”
The Sharks need all of the help they can get, as they entered Wednesday in eighth place in the West Division with a 9-11-3 record. With 21 points, they are seven points back of the Colorado Avalanche for the fourth and final playoff spot.
Of the Sharks’ 33 remaining games, 18 are scheduled to be played at SAP Center, with a makeup date for the Feb. 25 game with the Golden Knights not yet announced. The Sharks also have 17 games left against the three teams not in a playoff spot right now — Anaheim, Arizona and Los Angeles.
After the Sharks play the Ducks on Friday and Saturday, they face the Golden Knights on March 15 and 17. The Sharks close out the month with two games each against St. Louis, Los Angeles, Arizona and Minnesota, with the series vs. the Coyotes on March 26 and 27 being their only two games on the road in that span.