Just call them the Scottsdale Sharks for now.
General manager Doug Wilson announced Sunday that the San Jose Sharks will be holding training camp in Scottsdale, Arizona, presenting another challenge to a team that is looking to rebound from one of its most turbulent seasons in the last 20 years.
Hours earlier, the NHL and the Players’ Association completed a deal to hold a 56-game 2021 season from Jan. 13 to May 8 with playoffs to last into July. The league’s Board of Governors voted Sunday to approve the agreement that was supported by the NHLPA executive board Friday night.
With skating at their own facility in San Jose prohibited due to Santa Clara County’s ban on contact sports — the ban has been extended into January — the Sharks’ training camp will take place at Scottsdale Ice Den, a privately owned facility where the Arizona Coyotes usually practice.
“We explored a lot of different places, and this was a place that checked the majority of the boxes,” Wilson said. “There’s no perfect scenario. The perfect scenario is playing in our own market. But we looked just about everywhere, and this just seemed to fit the majority of our needs.”
As one of the seven teams that was not part of the NHL’s Return to Play this summer, the Sharks would be allowed to open camp Dec. 31.
The league’s 24 other teams would open Jan. 3 and the regular season would begin Jan. 13. There will be no exhibition games and to cut down on travel, NHL teams will only play teams within their divisions.
With the Canadian border closed to non-essential travel, the Sharks were placed in the same division as Anaheim, Arizona, Colorado, Los Angeles, Minnesota, St. Louis and Vegas. A division with the seven Canadian-based teams was formed, and the 16 other U.S.-based teams were realigned into two new divisions.
Each team will play each divisional opponent eight times, and the top four teams in each of the four divisions will make the playoffs.
In a statement Sunday, the NHL said their current plan was to play game at home arenas while “understanding that most arenas will not, at least in the initial part of the season, be able to host fans.”
The league is allowing for the possibility of playing games at neutral sites if needed.
“The way it ended up with the divisions,” Wilson said, “it makes sense to me on paper.”
The Associated Press reported Saturday that the Sharks would stay in Arizona for the start of the regular season. That, however, has not been finalized, Wilson said, although more information will likely become available this week when the NHL is expected to release its schedule. Wilson said the Sharks will likely start the season on the road, allowing for the possibility that they could play home games later in the season.
“If games can’t be played in Santa Clara, there’s a couple of potential options that we’ve been exploring, just like we were exploring sites for training camp,” Wilson said. “It could be a hub city, it could be us playing another NHL city for a while. Until we see our schedule, I don’t think we’ll know which and how many games will be affected.”
Right now, there is no indication when the Sharks will be allowed to play games at SAP Center, or when fans will be allowed in the building.
“It’s our hope that we get to a place where we can get our team back to San Jose and the Bay Area for the start of the regular season,” Wilson said. “But a lot of those decisions are out of our hands.”
The Sharks’ move out of San Jose had been speculated for weeks after Santa Clara County health officials announced in late November that all sports involving physical contact or close proximity to persons outside of their household will be prohibited until Dec. 21.
Earlier this week, though, county health officials said their restrictions were going to align with the timing of state restrictions, which are scheduled to be in place until Jan. 8, at least.
“We’re not the only business that’s had to make adjustments in their operation,” Wilson said. “The county officials are doing what they think is in the best interest of our communities and we certainly respect that.”
Wilson said the Sharks will have 36 skaters plus four or five goaltenders for camp. The team will be staying at a hotel near the Ice Den.
According to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, players on temporarily relocated teams are entitled to a hotel room for them and their family, a rental car and a per diem. If relocation lasts more than 28 days, additional benefits will be negotiated.
The Sharks are looking to rebound from a season in which they finished 29-36-5 overall and 15th and last in the Western Conference. Their .450 points percentage was the worst since the 2002-03 season when they were 28-37-9 (.445).
The Sharks have a new full-time coaching staff, led by Bob Boughner, and have a handful of new players, including goalie Devan Dubnyk, and forwards Ryan Donato and Matt Nieto.
Dubnyk and Donato were acquired from the Minnesota Wild in separate trades and Nieto and Patrick Marleau both signed one-year contracts as free agents to return to San Jose. The Sharks also lost Joe Thornton to free agency, as he signed a one-year contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“It’s a challenge. There’s no doubt,” Wilson said, “But I think this coaching staff in particular has put in so much work. They’ve talked to individual players, they’re prepared, they’re ready to go.
“But it’s different. It’s not anything that any of us have ever gone through before, so I can’t say it’s going to be perfect, but it’s not going to be because of lack of effort.”
