The severe outbreak of COVID-19 cases among the Vancouver Canucks players and coaches was a harsh reminder for the San Jose Sharks to remain vigilant to protect themselves from the deadly disease.
As of Tuesday, the Canucks had 18 players on the NHL’s COVID-19 log list. Two Vancouver taxi drivers and three members of the Canucks coaching staff were also affected by the outbreak as the virus spread with terrifying efficiency in the team’s dressing room.
« What I find scariest is how quickly this spreads, » said Sharks trainer Bob Boughner. “You can see in the league that there were teams that had one man, two men, maybe four or five men (outside). But if this affects your entire team and co-workers, and God knows, I’m sure families and everything else are pretty scary. »
The NHL first announced last week that it would suspend the Canucks team’s activities at least until today, with Thursday marking a targeted return to the game. These dates are set to change, of course, although the NHL did not receive any official updates on the Canucks’ schedule this week.
Shark players and staff have had to follow strict Santa Clara County protocols since being allowed to return to San Jose for the first time in late January after spending the entire training camp and the first two weeks of the regular season on the road.
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The Sharks’ last regular season game is scheduled for May 8th. The NHL playoffs begin later in the month.
« You get a bit tired with the masks and you have to be extra careful, » said Sharks goalkeeper Martin Jones. “Definitely a good reminder, especially when the end is in sight, the end of the season. We are so close. It’s important that we buckle up here and be smart. »
There have been several reports of symptomatic gamblers, although hospitalizations have not yet been required. According to Sportsnet in Canada, the Canucks may be dealing with the P-1 variant of the disease, which originated in Brazil and is more contagious.
An increase in local COVID infections due to variant cases is triggering an alarm among the Santa Clara County’s health authorities.
« It has given many of us a great reminder and a great wake-up call, » said Boughner. « We know that hopefully we’re close to vaccinating most people, but it’s scary. We’re sending them our best. We know it’s causing a lot of problems with the NHL and planning, but all in all, in the hope that these boys will get off well and that their families will be healthy. »
Boughner, who turned 50 last month, said he had already received his first COVID-19 vaccine and is now waiting for his second.
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Later this month, anyone 16 or older in California will be able to get the vaccine.
The NHL does not require players to be vaccinated, but teams in some US jurisdictions have already started the process when their players were eligible. Most Detroit Red Wings players, for example, have already received their shots.
At the Sharks, two players tested positive for the corona virus after the start of the regular season – Tomas Hertl and Marcus Sorensen.
Hertl was not in the Sharks line-up for two weeks and missed six games from February 27 to March 8. Sorensen’s first positive test turned out to be false positive. However, due to Santa Clara County’s regulations, Sorensen was required to isolate for another 10 days. He missed five games.
These isolation guidelines for those who test positive remain in effect. However, the district regulations state that vaccinated individuals who have been exposed to someone with a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19 do not need to be quarantined once they are fully vaccinated.
A full vaccination means two or more weeks have passed since a person received a second dose in a two-dose series, or two or more weeks for those who received a single-dose vaccine .
« It’s definitely something I would consider, » Sharks winger Ryan Donato, who will turn 25 on Friday, said of the vaccination if he is eligible. « I’m not sure how this will work, but if I had the option, I would definitely take it. »
SHARKS DEBUT: With Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who has injured his upper body, Christian Jaros will make his Sharks debut on Tuesday evening, starting with the third defensive pair with Radim Simek. Jaros’ last NHL game before Tuesday was March 5, 2020, when he played just over seven minutes in the Ottawa Senators 4-3 win over the New York Islanders.
Jaros was acquired in January when Sharks defenseman Trevor Carrick traded for Anaheim striker Jack Kopacka and distributed Kopacka to Ottawa for Jaros, who turned 25 last Friday. Jaros had three assists in 11 games with the Barracuda, his last game being against Bakersfield on March 30th.
Vlasic will likely be unavailable for the Friday and Saturday games with the Los Angeles Kings, so Tuesday’s game could be some sort of audition for Jaros to keep his seat.
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« He hasn’t played much hockey this year, » Boughner said of Jaros. « So keep it simple, try to be physical, he’s a big guy so I’d love to see him defend hard and just play easy games against this team tonight. I think he has a lot of skills and he’s doing well and I just want to see that he doesn’t overcomplicate things and just do the simple games. »
INJURY UPDATE: It appears that injured striker Matt Nieto will be out for at least another week and possibly longer. Boughner said he hadn’t heard of any immediate plans for Nieto, who hadn’t played with a lower body injury since March 19, to resume skating.
Ref: https://www.mercurynews.com
