Due to COVID-19 restrictions in Santa Clara County, the San Jose Sharks will be forced to play their first two scheduled home games in Glendale, AZ., the team announced Saturday.
The games, slated to take place on Feb. 1 and Feb. 3 against the Vegas Golden Knights, will be played at Gila River Arena, the usual home of the Arizona Coyotes. San Jose will still be recognized as the home team for both games.
“We feel that we have put significant precautions in place, including daily COVID-19 testing of the athletes and support staff, to allow for us to safely return to play games at SAP Center, while not exposing the community to any additional health risk,” Jonathan Becher, president of the Sharks, said in a statement. “In our discussions with County officials over the past several months, we have shared our detailed return-to-play plans and are hopeful that we can find practical solutions to this difficult situation very soon.”
At the moment however, a ban on all contact sports remains in place in Santa Clara, where COVID-19 cases continue to trend upwards. Over the last seven days, an average of 908 positive cases have been reported by the county.
The team says no determination has been made yet regarding the presence of fans at the Arizona games. Arizona’s seven-day average of positive COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people sits at 94, the highest in the United States, according to a database maintained by the New York Times. Maricopa County, the site of the Coyotes’ arena, is averaging 96 cases per 100,000 people every seven days.
This isn’t the first time the Sharks and Coyotes have partnered up on a relocation since the pandemic began. Last December, the Sharks held training camp in Arizona due to restrictions in Santa Clara.
The Sharks’ next set of home games are scheduled for Feb. 13 and 15. The location of those games will be announced at a future date.
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