Long road ahead for SJ
Why Sharks aren't playing games at SAP Center for nearly a month
It's been over a week since Sharks coach David Quinn has been in San Jose.
And it's going to be a couple more weeks until he returns.
“I'm heading to Florida,” Quinn said after the Sharks beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-4 on Saturday. “The good news is we start our second half in Tampa and I'll already be down there. Feeling good. Well rested.”
The Sharks' last home game was Jan. 18 against the Dallas Stars, and their next home game isn't until Feb. 14 when they host the Penguins.
Why so long away from home for the Sharks?
Part of it had to do with the rescheduled U.S. Figure Skating Championships, which San Jose was originally supposed to host in 2021. However, in November 2020, eight months after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Figure Skating made the decision to reocate the 2021 championships to the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, and make SAP Center the host of the 2023 event.
The weeklong national championships occupied the downtown arena every day last week.
The Sharks, like most NHL teams right now, are on their bye week, a fiveday break that leads into the NHL All-Star Game festivities on Friday and Saturday in Sunrise, Florida. Erik Karlsson, who leads all NHL defensemen in goals (16), assists (50), and points (66), is the lone Sharks representative.
The Sharks' next game is next Tuesday in Tampa Bay, followed by games on Feb. 9 in Florida and Feb. 12 — Super Bowl Sunday — in Washington.
This month, SAP Center hosts concerts by Los Temerarios and JJ Lin on Feb. 3 and 7, respectively, before Disney on Ice moves in for shows from Feb. 9-12.
A Sharks spokesman said the team didn't request to start its postAll-Star break schedule on the road. However, the NHL usually tries to wrap up all of the Sharks' road games against Eastern Conference teams by the end of February.
Being away from home this long isn't completely unusual for the Sharks.
Last season, the Sharks had a four-game road trip prior to the All-Star break and after a bye week, they went 22 days between games in San Jose.
The season before, the Sharks, due to Santa Clara County's ban on contact sports, began the year with 12 straight road games and didn't at home until a month after the season began.
The one good thing about this year's schedule for the Sharks? Only 11 of their final 28 games will be on the road.