Sharks to return home mid-February.
The San Jose Sharks finally know when they’ll be able to play at SAP Center again.
The Sharks announced Wednesday that while they will still play the Vegas Golden Knights at Gila River Arena on Monday and Wednesday of next week, they would return to San Jose in mid-February to face the Anaheim Ducks at their downtown arena.
Per Santa Clara County directives, spectators will not be allowed to attend the Feb. 13 and 15 games against the Ducks, which will be the Sharks’ first inside SAP Center since March 2020. After those games are played, the Sharks would still have 24 of their final 40 games at home.
County health officials on Monday allowed for the possibility for collegiate and professional sports to resume in the county if certain stringent directives were closely followed, including regular testing for
athletes and staff members, face coverings being continuously used and proper distancing being maintained.
A statement from Sharks indicated they had consulted with the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association before they finalized their plans.
“While we are pleased to have received permission for the team to return to Santa Clara County,” the team said in the statement, “there are numerous health and safety issues – both from the County and League level — that need to be implemented to ensure the safety of the returning players and staff.”
The Sharks will head to Arizona after their game tonight with the Colorado Avalanche, their last of a season-opening eight-game road trip. The Sharks will be considered the home team for their games with the Golden Knights.
The Sharks said a ‘very limited’ number of tickets, approximately 2,500, would be available to those two games for fans residing in Arizona.
After the two-game series with Vegas, the Sharks travel to Southern California for two games against the Ducks on Feb. 5-6, followed by two games with the Los Angeles Kings on Feb. 9 and 11.
After the county’s announcement earlier this week, the Sharks had hopes to play the Golden Knights in San Jose. While they were disappointed to not be able to come home this week, they knew there was a chance they’d have to stay on the road a while longer.
“I think the guys are ready to get back and be with their families. So I’d say there’s a sense of disappointment,” Sharks coach Bob Boughner said Wednesday before the team’s official announcement. “But we knew after (the county’s announcement) that there was a chance we wouldn’t be going back until the next set of home games.
“So we knew that was a possibility, but I think we were all hoping that it would happen this weekend, and unfortunately it’s not. So we just have to roll with it.”
The Sharks have been outside of the Bay Area since December. When the county’s ban on contact sports was extended into January, the Sharks relocated training camp from San Jose to Scottsdale, Arizona.
Some players like Devan Dubnyk and Ryan Donato have yet to goto San Jose as members of the Sharks. Donato went straight from his home in Massachusetts to the Sharks’ training camp in Scottsdale last month and as of last week had yet to find a place to live in the Bay Area. Dubnyk has a place in the South Bay but has yet to step foot inside his home.
“We wanted to get clarity,” Dubnyk said. “The toughest part is when you’re sitting there not knowing whether we’re going to be in Arizona, we’re going to be at home, go home and then go to Arizona. That’s a lot tougher on guys. Just kind of having some finality to what’s going on.
“Everybody wants to get home and see their families, but we got told the news that we’ll be going Arizona and I think we’ve all kind of been expecting that for these first couple games anyway.”
The Sharks first announced Saturday, when the county’s ban on contact sports was still in place, that they would be playing their first two home games at Gila River Arena. On Monday, after the state of California lifted the Bay Area’s regional stay-at-home order, county officials said they would permit professional and collegiate sports to take place if certain directives were followed.
The county directives note that any collegiate athletic program or professional athletics organization that violates the order, “shall be immediately and automatically suspended from engaging in athletic activities.”
The Sharks have a 3-4-0 record this season and are looking to bounce back from the 7-3 pasting they received by the Avalanche on Tuesday.
“We’ve been on the road a long time and (Thursday) night’s a big game for us to try and get back to .500 and regroup and take a few days off, whether it’s Arizona or San Jose, to get a few days of practice,” Boughner said. “We’ve been playing every other day for quite a while.” TWO TRADES NETS DEFENSEMAN >> The Sharks made two trades, resulting in the acquisition of defenseman Christian Jaros from the Ottawa Senators.
First, the Sharks sent defenseman Trevor Carrick to the Anaheim Ducks for forward Jack Kopacka, then dealt Kopacka and their own 2022 seventh-round draft pick to the Senators for Jaros.
Jaros, 24, has been with the Belleville Senators of the AHL and not yet played a game this season. It is unclear if he will join the Sharks’ roster or be assigned to the Barracuda. In another move Wednesday, the Sharks placed defenseman Jake Middleton on waivers.
Jaros, listed at 6-foot-3 and 222 pounds, split last season between Ottawa and Belleville. He played in 13 NHL games and had three assists and six penalty minutes. He played in 34 games with Belleville and had 15 points, a plus-20 rating and 14 penalty minutes.
Jaros has played in 76 NHL games with 13 points and 33 penalty minutes. In the AHL, he has appeared in 79 games, scoring 31 points with a plus-10 rating and 57 penalty minutes.
GOALIE DECISIONS >> Boughner said Wednesday he hasn’t finalized who his starting goalie would be tonight, Dubnyk or Martin Jones. Tuesday, Dubnyk came in for Jones, who was pulled after the Avalanche took a 5-1 lead at the 5:47 mark of the second period. Jones stopped 14 of 19 shots and Dubnyk, in relief, stopped 21 of 23 shots. OTHER CHANGES >> Boughner also said there will be other lineup changes for tonight’s game. Asked about the Sharks’ second line with Kane, Tomas Hertl and John Leonard, who did not have a shot on goal Tuesday, Boughner said there would be changes. “There’s got to be some adjustments, for sure,” Boughner said.