John Locher/AP
Vegas Golden Knights left wing William Carrier (28) celebrates with goaltender Robin Lehner after defeating the New Jersey Devils in an NHL hockey game Tuesday, March 3, 2020, in Las Vegas.
Published Wednesday, March 11, 2020 | 2:10 p.m.
Updated Wednesday, March 11, 2020 | 3:40 p.m.
It seems like a matter of time before the coronavirus outbreak begins to affect NHL games, including the Golden Knights.
Sports leagues across the country are scrambling to contain the virus, including the step the Golden State Warriors announced to play Thursday’s home game without fans in attendance.
NCAA President Mark Emmert also announced today that NCAA Division I basketball tournament games would be played without fans in the arenas.
As of now, Golden Knights games have not been impacted. The team does not play at home until Tuesday and as of now, the game will be played as scheduled.
“There’s a lot of people monitoring this very closely — the NHL, the Players’ Association, the CDC. We’re just taking direction from them. For me, whatever they’re recommending, we’re on board with and we’ll follow 100%,” Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said today. “This stuff’s changing by the hour. We’re just in a wait-and-see and follow-orders mode.”
The only league mandate by the NHL regarding the coronavirus so far came via a joint statement from the NHL, NBA, MLB and MLS restricting locker room access to the media.
DeBoer, who normally does his media availability from the video room, was followed today by players Nate Schmidt, Jonathan Marchessault, Marc-Andre Fleury and Reilly Smith. Instead of addressing the media from their lockers, they each took turns at the podium.
“It’s a little bit different, but you’ve got to take any precautions necessary right now, and that’s just a reality of where we’re living right now,” Schmidt said.
So far, the fans won’t see any significant changes.
Golden Knights practices are still open to the public, though the team has temporarily closed the kids’ zone, where players sign autographs after practices, and has increased the number of daily cleanings at City National Arena.
Some states and municipalities have started addressing the matter themselves.
Health officials in Santa Clara County, Calif., where the San Jose Sharks play, issued a legal order banning events with more than 1,000 people in attendance. In response, the Sharks said their three home games through April 1 would be played without fans.
In Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine called for indoor sporting events to be played without fans. After initially refusing the recommendation and seeing that become a forthcoming order, the Blue Jackets announced this afternoon home games, including Thursday's game against the Penguins, would be closed to the public.
In MLB, the San Francisco Giants canceled their home exhibition game against the Oakland A’s on March 24. And the Seattle Mariners are considering playing home games in Arizona after Washington Gov. Jay Inslee sought to restrict gatherings of more that 250 people in certain counties, including the one where the Mariners’ stadium is located.
MLS announced that March 21 games in Seattle and San Jose ware being postponed.
The Southern Nevada Health District has yet to issue any guidance for the NHL.
“We haven’t made a decision or a recommendation about event cancelation,” said Dr. Fermin Leguen, the district’s acting chief health officer. “This is part of the process that we go through with our partners about what is best for our community at large.”
None of the Golden Knights players who talked to the media today wanted to see games canceled or played in an empty T-Mobile Arena.
“That would suck,” Fleury said. “It’s obviously something we would miss a lot, but we’re not there yet.”
The Golden Knights, like many sports teams, don’t go through airports to travel, fly on private planes and don’t interact with fans on a day-to-day basis.
“I’m not too worried about it right now. I feel like we’re not exposed that much to other people,” Fleury said. “It’s still in the back of your mind, right? If you grab a Sharpie to sign something, so that’s something we were warned to stay away from. It is what it is.”
The Golden Knights have four home games remaining — March 17, 21, 23 and 25 — and assuming they reach the playoffs, would be guaranteed at least two home games per round.
Playing in empty arena is something no Golden Knights player has done in an NHL game, but Smith took a swipe at his old team, the Florida Panthers, who had some of the worst attendance in the league.
“That’s something that we’ll tackle a couple weeks down the line if that’s the case,” he said. “I also played a few years in Florida with not that many fans, so I’m used to it.”
