Seven members of the NHL’s San Jose Sharks, as well as their
coach Bob Boughner, were placed in the COVID-19 protocol on Saturday. The news
was announced on the team’s Twitter account.

Boughner, along with forwards Andrew Cogliano, Jonathan
Dahlen, and Matt Nieto, and defenders Erik Karlsson, Jake Middleton, Radim
Simek, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic, were all ruled out.

According to the Mercury News daily, a Sharks spokesperson
claimed that some of the isolated players were symptomatic. The team
refused to say who those people were.

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The incident caused the Sharks’ game against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday to be
delayed by 30 minutes.

The Sharks’ captain, Logan Couture, also missed the game due
to illness, but the organisation stated he was not placed in the league’s
COVID-19 protocol.

John MacLean, a Sharks assistant coach, took over as
head coach. Mike Ricci, the development coach, also joined the bench.

The Sharks called up five players from their AHL club,
the San Jose Barracuda, for Saturday’s game: Defensemen Jaycob Megna, Nicolas
Meloche, and Ryan Merkley, as well as forwards John Leonard and Nick Merkley.

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“We just kind of went through whatever we had to go
through to get the testing done, and then waited for the results,” MacLean stated.
“Unfortunately, in, the world we live in, sometimes this happens and we’ve got
to get prepared to play a hockey game.”

Every three days, Sharks players are given a PCR test.
Individuals were tested on Friday, according to the team spokesperson, and the
findings would have been available overnight. The test findings were sent to
the players and Boughner early Saturday morning.

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Before the start of the season, Boughner had certified that
all Sharks players who were with the squad at the end of training camp had been
completely vaccinated. The Sharks had every player available for their previously
completed five-game road trip, which include three trips in Canada.