Coronavirus outbreak deals sad blow to Joe Thornton

After the Santa Clara County ordered no gatherings larger than 1,000 through the end of March due to coronavirus concerns, the San Jose Sharks released a statement saying they will adhere to the guidelines and review the remaining home games on the calendar. Which means the games could be played in an empty arena... 

As Dan Kingerski points out, this could be especially unfair for veteran forward Joe Thornton, who is likely to hang up the skates at the end of the season and could miss out on an emotional send off in his final home game. 

Thornton, who was hoping to get moved at the trade deadline in order to get a chance to compete of a championship before retiring, could be dealign with another hard blow in 2019-20. 

San Jose is out of the playoff picture, sitting second last in the Western Conference with a record of 29-25-5 and 63 points and did not manage to find a trade partner for the veteran forward. His teammate Patrick Marleau was however shipped out the Pittsburgh Penguins on Feb. 24. 

Depending on what is done to remedy the coronavirus threats around the world, especially in California, Thornton might not get a chance to say goodbye to his beloved fans…