As the world continues to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, the Sharks find themselves in uncharted territory.
On Monday, Santa Clara County announced it was suspending any mass gatherings of people through the end of March. The Sharks, who aren't scheduled to play a home game again until March 17, have said they will review their events at SAP Center.
The Sharks are heading out on the road, but when they return home there is a real possibility they will play in an empty arena. The players still are trying to figure out how to navigate this new normal.
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"I think we're just kind of going through it like you guys are going through it," Joe Thornton told the media Tuesday. "I think we've got to be sensitive to what's going on. It's all new to us, so we'll just see how everything plays out. Obviously, corona is going worldwide now. We got to make sure we take precautions for ourselves. We're just going through it like you guys, learning through it like you guys and we'll see what happens when we get back from the road trip."
The thought of playing games without fans in the arena is a reality the Sharks hope they don't have to go through when they return home.
"I haven't," Thornton said when asked if he'd thought about what it will be like to play in empty arenas. "I hope that's not going to be the case but we will have to see what happens. It would definitely be a weird feeling if that happens, but we will see what happens ... What's going on right now I think is weird for everybody, I think we're all confused like you guys are.
"I see Italian soccer teams are doing the no fan thing. So I'm not sure what we'll have planned right now. So, like I said, we go on the road for a week and we'll know more when we get back."
San Jose Sharks
The Sharks could look to other venues outside of Santa Clara County to play their games in. Either decision would take away their home-ice advantage. Choosing between the two is a tough task.
"Oh boy," Evander Kane said when asked if it was preferable to play in front of zero fans or at a more neutral site. "Obviously, I've never played in the NHL without any fans, so that idea would definitely be very different. I know they made an announcement of what we would do over a couple different scenarios.
"I think we are all just waiting to find out what actually happens, so obviously, the empty building was one of them. It would be very strange to play in an empty building that's for sure."
[RELATED: Assessing Sharks' options for home games after county ban]
As coronavirus fears grow, the NHL, along with MLB, NBA and MLS elected to close their locker rooms, limiting access to just players and essential staff.
If the leagues really wanted to keep everyone safe, they would opt to play the games in empty arenas. Keeping the media out of the locker room while allowing 20,000 people into an arena is a half-hearted measure that fails to meet the moment.