Sharks’ season opener next month in Arizona will have fans in attendance
Turns out there will be spectators in attendance for the San Jose Sharks’ regular-season opener next month.
Arizona Coyotes’ president Xavier A. Gutierrez said Monday the team will be opening the regular season Jan. 14 against the Sharks with a limited amount of fans allowed inside Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz.
Gutierrez, a San Jose native, said the Coyotes have worked with local, state and federal officials, and the NHL, about its plan to host fans for its games, adding that it is subject to further review from health authorities.
Gutierrez said he didn’t specifically know how many people will be allowed to attend games. Gila River Arena has a seating capacity of 17,125 for hockey.
“We’re excited,” Gutierrez said. “We think that we will be announcing some very innovative and techenabled services to ensure the health and safety of or fans.”
The Coyotes’ announcement comes a day after Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said the team would be relocating its training camp from San Jose to Scottsdale, Ariz. because of COVID-19-related restrictions in Santa Clara County.
The Sharks still do not know where they will be playing games as the home team at the start of the season. Santa Clara County has banned contact sports until at least Jan. 8 and has imposed a 10- day quarantine for anyone traveling to the county from more than 150 miles away. SAP Center in San Jose has not hosted any events since March.
“If games can’t be played in Santa Clara, there’s a couple of potential options that we’ve been exploring, just like we were exploring sites for training camp,” Wilson said. “It could be a hub city, it could be us playing another NHL city for a while. Until we see our schedule, I don’t think we’ll know which and how many games will be affected.”
The NHL is expected to release its regular season schedule in the next day or two. The Sharks and Coyotes are in the West Division with Los Angeles, Anaheim, Vegas, Colorado, Minnesota and St. Louis. Each team will play each other eight times for a 56-game regular season.
Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong said the NHL’s schedule will feature teams playing each other twice in a row to reduce travel and limit exposure. If that’s the case, the Sharks and Coyotes will play each other again a day or two after the Jan. 14 opener.