“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It is unclear if the contact sports ban will be lifted by the county if and when the regional stay-at-home order is no longer in effect.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 additional information.

The San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) announced today that, due to the ban on contact sports that remains in place in Santa Clara County, the team will be forced to play their first two scheduled “home games” in Glendale, AZ.

“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,” said Sharks President Jonathan Becher. “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.”

 Sharks Sports & Entertainment (SSE), the parent company of the San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks), San Jose Barracuda (@sjbarracuda) and SAP Center at San Jose (@SAPCenter), today proudly and formally announced the Teal For Change Council to expand our support of diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice.

“Sharks Sports & Entertainment’s mantra is ‘Teal Together’ which focuses on belonging,” said Sharks President Jonathan Becher (@JBecher). “While we have made progress in integrating the Teal Together mindset throughout our company and being more inclusive in each of our initiatives, we have more work to do.

Still, the organization is seeking contingency options for training camp, particularly if the restrictions extend beyond the current expiration date of Dec. 21. Further, many players are already in town and have been skating in small groups approximately three times a week at the team’s training facility in downtown San Jose.

On Nov. 20, Sharks president Jonathan Becher was asked if the team has explored holding training camp outside of Santa Clara County.

“That would be a last resort for us,” he said. “But if the season is going to start in January and we can’t train here, we could have to train someplace else. That is the backup plan.”

While they wait for the next hockey season to begin — whenever that is — the San Jose Sharks have given their season ticket holders a break on renewals, kept up their payments on the SAP Center and done some work fixing up the place even though they haven’t played a game or put on an event in the arena for eight months because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Luckily, we have Hasso as an owner, who is focused on the long term and not on the short term,” team president Jonathan Becher said Friday of Sharks owner and SAP co-founder Hasso Plattner.