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The Senators are among the teams that are separating players and coaches from reporters by placing a podium between them.

All of the above has given rise to suggestions the NHL is overreacting and/or that the new policy might make no difference in whether the virus is contained or spreads further.

“I’m not worried about getting sick,” said Ryan. “I’ve got this podium in front of me. I’m all good.”

Senators coach D.J. Smith says he isn’t acting any differently than in the past. He’s practicing good hygiene.

“It’s nothing, it’s no more than the flu, the common flu for me,” said Smith. “When I hear all these reports about it, there is nothing you can do about it. Just do exactly the same things you do every day with the regular common flu.”

As for the possibility of playing games without fans, Smith said, “we wouldn’t want to do that certainly, but we will listen to whatever the league has to say.”

CROWD CONTROL?

While public health officials in San Jose advised fans against going to Sharks games at the SAP Center on the weekend, the games went on. It should also be noted that it’s business as usual for the Ducks. The Ducks practised in front of a school-day crowd of approximately 15,000 on Monday.

OVERSEAS CONCERNS?

There’s a growing possibility that the world championships, scheduled for Switzerland in May, could be cancelled. The women’s world championships, originally scheduled for Halifax in March, have already been cancelled. Senators centre Colin White, a potential candidate to play for the United States at the worlds, is well aware that Italy is currently under a coronavirus quarantine. “Northern Italy is pretty close to Switzerland there, so we’ll see what happens.”…