COVID rules could be drawback for Sharks
SAN JOSE — The NHL is cutting the required isolation time in half for fully vaccinated yet symptomatic players who test positive for COVID-19 and meet certain conditions, although it is unclear if the league's latest guidance will also apply to the Sharks considering Santa Clara County's stricter pandemic regulations.
Following guidelines set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this week, the NHL and NHL Players' Association announced Wednesday that isolation times for players and personnel who test positive would be reduced from 10 to five days under certain conditions and where it is allowed by local laws.
The new directive applies only to the league's U.s.-based teams for now because Canada has more stringent COVID laws, as most provinces still require 10-day isolation for positive individuals.
In Santa Clara County, symptomatic individuals who had COVID are no longer considered contagious and may return to work only if it has been at least 10 days since their symptoms started, their symptoms have improved, and at least 24 hours have passed since their last fever, without the use of fever-reducing medications.
An email from a Santa Clara County spokesperson to this news organization said the county “and other Bay Area counties are in the process of jointly reviewing the latest guidance from the CDC on isolation and quarantine periods (which has been incorporated into
the National Hockey League COVID-19 protocol). We do not currently have a statement on the new guidance.”
Asked Wednesday if he feels the Sharks could potentially be at a disadvantage if the county does not adapt to the latest CDC guidelines, coach Bob Boughner said, “I think that would be a concern. You want to be on a level playing field with the rest of the league.”
Center Tomas Hertl exited the NHL'S COVID protocol after one week on Tuesday and scored a goal in that night's Sharks' 8-7 shootout win over the Arizona Coyotes. The Sharks still have two players on its roster in protocol: winger Jonathan Dahlen, who entered Dec. 21 with Hertl, and goalie Adin Hill, who entered on Monday.
Dahlen and Hill skated
at the Sharks' practice facility early Wednesday and left the ice before the entire team practiced. Both players are asymptomatic, Boughner said.
Hertl's participation Tuesday, though, was seemingly at odds with Santa Clara County's return to work guidelines for asymptomatic individuals who have tested positive. The directives say a person can return to work 10 days after their first positive test was collected. Hertl tested positive on Dec. 21.
The Sharks announced hours before the team's game with the Coyotes that Hertl, the team's leading goal-scorer, had been removed from the NHL'S COVID-19 protocol.
Hertl tested negative Monday and Tuesday, opening the door for him to exit the NHL protocol. Hertl said he thought he might have been negative his entire time in the protocol because he never
felt any symptoms.
“I was just waiting all day (Tuesday) for another negative (test) so I can play,” Hertl said Tuesday. “So I was getting ready for that and for the game and I was hoping I could help the team tonight.”
The Sharks' top minor league affiliate, the Barracuda, has 12 players in the AHL protocol, including forwards Jasper Weatherby and Evander Kane, defenseman Ryan Merkley and goalie Alexei Melnichuk.
Both the Sharks and Barracuda have a staff member in the protocol, as is Barracuda assistant coach Michael Chiasson. The Barracuda had scheduled games this week on Monday and Wednesday against Bakersfield and Stockton, respectively, postponed, and the status of the team's games Friday and Sunday is being reviewed.
The NHL'S new COVID guidelines say if an individual has a fever, they need to be isolated until their fever resolves. If the individual has no symptoms or their symptoms are resolving after five days, they can leave isolation and return to practices and games if certain conditions are met.
Conditions include the individual's lab-based PCR test that is negative, or a lab-based PCR test that has a cycle threshold value over 30 or two negative rapid tests collected more than two hours apart. The individual also had to obtain medical clearance from the individual's club physician, and the exit is permitted by local health authorities.
REIMER RESTS: Sharks goalie James Reimer, who made 39 saves against the Coyotes, was given a maintenance day Wednesday but is expected to start Thursday for the Sharks against the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Sharks' game Tuesday was their first in 12 days and with Hill unavailable, Boughner said the team wanted to be cautious with Reimer.
“Just not playing for so long and he faced quite a bit of shot volume and chances,” Boughner said of Reimer. “Just over-used a little bit during the game and we just wanted to make sure we're doing the smart thing with him.”
BALCERS UPDATE: Rudolfs Balcers (lowerbody injury) skated with the team again Wednesday but is not expected to be available against the Flyers. Boughner said, though, that dressing Sunday on the road against the Pittsburgh Penguins was a “legitimate goal” for Balcers, who has not played since Dec. 3.
“That's our goal as we speak,” Boughner said of a Balcers return. “Every day we want to increase the volume of battling and contact, and try to get his conditioning back.”