Questions remain as Sharks officially relocate first two home games to Arizona

NHL: Because of Santa Clara County's ongoing contact sports ban, San Jose Sharks are relocating first two scheduled home games from SAP Center to Gila River Arena

The San Jose Sharks’ exile away from their home city will last at least until the middle of February.

Citing Santa Clara County’s ongoing ban on contact sports, the Sharks on Saturday officially announced that their first two scheduled home games — which are just over a week away — will have to be played at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona instead of at SAP Center in San Jose.

The Sharks will play the the Vegas Golden Knights as the home team in Arizona on Feb. 1 and Feb. 3. The Sharks’ next scheduled home games are Feb. 13 and Feb. 15 against the Anaheim Ducks, but it remains unclear if they will be able to return home by that point.

The Bay Area’s regional stay-at-home order, under California directives, will remain in place as long as ICU bed availability is under 15 percent.

As of Saturday, ICU bed availability — according to data on the state of California’s COVID-19 website — in the Bay Area region jumped from 6.5 percent the day before to 23.4 percent. However, the state’s four-week projection for ICU bed capacity remains below the 15 percent threshold necessary for reopening.

Professional or collegiate contact sports in Santa Clara County are not allowed while the shelter order is in place. There is also a mandatory 10-day quarantine for anyone coming to the county from more than 150 miles away, making it impossible for teams to travel in and out of San Jose.

The Sharks and county officials have stayed in contact for the last several months. In a statement, Sharks president Jonathan Becher said the team would have had “significant” precautions in place, including daily COVID-19 testing for athletes and support staff, to allow games to be safely played at SAP Center “while not exposing the community to any additional health risk.” Fans would have also not been allowed to attend games.

“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,” Becher’s statement said.

It is unclear if the contact sports ban will be lifted by the county if and when the regional stay-at-home order is no longer in effect. A Santa Clara spokesperson said the county could not provide any addional information.

The Sharks are the only U.S.-based professional sports team currently in action that is unable to play games at their home arena or stadium. The Sharks held their training camp in Scottsdale from Dec. 31 to Jan. 11 and several players and coaches have been away from the Bay Area for four weeks or more.

The Sharks are playing 14 of their first 18 games as the visiting team. Before the NHL’s regular season schedule was finalized, the Sharks requested that their schedule be backloaded with home games, giving them a better chance to play as many games as possible at SAP Center.

The Sharks (2-3-0) are right now in the midst of an eight-game road trip. They will finish a two-game series with the Minnesota Wild on Sunday then travel to Colorado to play the Avalanche on Tuesday and Thursday before they return to the Phoenix area, still not knowing then they might be able to come home.

“You’ve got to prepare for anything longer than (mid-February), really,” Sharks captain Logan Couture said. “You don’t know if we’re going to get back there, when we’re going to get back there. You’ve got to prepare for a lot of scenarios individually away from hockey.”

Couture said some team members are trying to find out more information about possibly getting family members to meet them wherever the Sharks might be staying.

There are NHL protocols in place that allow players to see family members if they are in one location for an extended period, but the Sharks are still unclear how long they might have to call Arizona home — just for early February, or for more home games later in the month.

“So there’s a lot of work that’s going to be going into planning this away from hockey,” Couture said. “But once we get to the rink, then you’ve got to focus on this game.”

The Sharks said the Feb. 1 game will be played at 6 p.m. PST and the Feb. 3 game, nationally televised on NBCSN, will start at 7:30 p.m. PST. It remains undetermined whether fans will be allowed to attend.

“It’s not easy. But at this point, there’s really no excuses,” Couture said of the extended road trip. “No one’s going to feel sorry for us outside of our room, so we’re really just kind of wasting our breath if we complain about it to anyone.

“It’s up to us as a group to really buckle down. It’s not like life isn’t good. We’re living our dream, playing in the NHL, getting to travel city to city. The rules may be tighter but things are still good.”