Back at practice after tests, but big challenge awaits
Hertl could miss two weeks or more
It would have been understandable if the San Jose Sharks experienced some mixed emotions in their return to work Friday.
The Sharks practiced for the first time since Tuesday as no other player besides Tomas Hertl landed on the NHL’s COVID-19 list with a positive coronavirus test. Their home game Saturday with the St. Louis Blues remained on track to be played as scheduled.
They were also thinking of Hertl, with captain Logan Couture saying, “we all checked in with him and he’s in good spirits, so that’s obviously good news. Good news in a bad news situation.”
But the reality also set in that the Sharks will be without one of their most important players in Hertl for roughly the next two weeks, if not more, just as they embark on one of the most challenging portions of their schedule.
Hertl tested positive for the coronavirus earlier this week and it appears he’ll miss the next six Sharks games or more due to NHL protocols.
“You’re safe to say he’s out for 14 days before we see him back in our lineup,” said Sharks coach Bob Boughner, who added that the veteran forward was
asymptomatic and isolating at home. “Big loss, obviously.”
Hertl first appeared on the NHL’s COVID-19 list Wednesday, just hours after the Sharks abruptly canceled practice for that day. The Sharks also did not practice Thursday but did not receive any more positive tests, clearing the way for them to resume skating at their facility.
“It’s good news for us that we’re in day three now and we haven’t had any more positive cases,” Boughner said.
Boughner said Hertl was unsure as to how he may have contracted the disease.
The Sharks played the Blues in St. Louis last Saturday and returned home right after the game. The Sharks played the Minnesota Wild on Monday and practiced in San Jose on
Tuesday. While the Sharks are San Jose, they are limited to traveling between their homes and their San Jose practice facility or SAP Center.
The Sharks had one player, Max Letunov, on the NHL’s COVID list at the start of the season after he missed the last few days of training camp. But Hertl’s case was the team’s first since the regular season began for the Sharks on Jan. 14, as they went through roughly six weeks without any other player appearing on the list.
“When it happens to one of your guys I think that, it’s a little bit of a wake up call,” said Boughner, who credited the way his team has adhered to league and local protocols. “We’re no different than anybody else in society, and you’ve just got to be very, very careful.”
Hertl’s absence leaves a
huge void for the Sharks as they try to get some traction in the West Division playoff race.
After Saturday, the Sharks (7-8-2) host the Colorado Avalanche on Monday and Wednesday, the Vegas Golden Knights on March 5 and 6 and the Blues again on March 8 — all teams with Stanley Cup aspirations. The game the Sharks were supposed to play Thursday with the Golden Knights, but was postponed due to Hertl’s positive test, has not yet been rescheduled by the NHL.
Hertl would miss every one of those games if cannot play again until March 12 when the Sharks play the Anaheim Ducks. That is assuming the Sharks’ schedule does not change between now and then.
This is a tough spot, one that could put the seventhplace Sharks in a hole they can’t escape of they lose a handful of consecutive games.
“Losing Tommy, your third-leading point-getter and playing in all situations, it’s a tough loss and we’re already playing a little bit undermanned as well,” Boughner said. “It’s opportunity for other guys, but we’re getting into probably what I would say is the toughest part of our schedule here.”