Extended ban may have effect on franchise

SAN JOSE >> Santa Clara County Executive Jeff Smith said he expects the ban on recreational activities that involve physical contact with persons outside of their household to be extended into 2021, potentially forcing the Sharks out of the area to hold practices and play games.

Smith told this news organization he believed the ban, which went into effect Monday and lasts until Dec. 21, would be extended into January when the Sharks’ season could be well underway.

The directive, announced Saturday, also stated that individuals traveling more than 150 miles to Santa Clara County would need to quarantine for 14 days — an impossibility for other NHL teams that travel to San Jose to play the Sharks at SAP Center.

Saturday, Santa Clara County recorded 747 new coronavirus cases, the most it has recorded in a single day since the start of the pandemic in March. There were

also, as of Sunday, 272 COVID-19 hospitalizations in the county, also a new record according to available data.

Asked about Smith’s remarks, a Sharks spokesman said Monday the team will not be announcing any decisions about where it might hold training camp or play games until the NHL officially determines when the 2020-2021 regular season will begin.

The 49ers on Monday announced they would play their remaining home games at the home of the Arizona Cardinals instead of Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

“Until we have additional information regarding those dates,” a Sharks’ statement said before Smith’s comment was known, “it is premature to speculate on how the revised health directives from Santa Clara County will affect the San Jose Sharks plans to prepare for the upcoming season.”

The league and the NHL Players’ Association had set Jan. 1 as a target date to start the regular season. But it appears that date will be pushed back as league owners, citing staggering financial losses, look to renegotiate the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement extension they reached with the union this summer.

If the NHL were to begin the regular season in mid-January, a Sharks training camp could begin as soon as late December. If that is the case and the contact ban remains in effect, the Sharks and Barracuda, San Jose’s AHL affiliate, would at the very least be forced to move their training camps outside of the county.