The Calgary Flames have added seven players, seven support staff and three coaches to the NHL's COVID-19 protocol.
In response, the NHL announced an extension of Calgary games being postponed through at least Saturday. Games had initially been postponed through Thursday.
According to Sportsnet's Eric Francis, the league is likely to postpone Flames games through the Christmas break.
The seven additional players: Rasmus Andersson, Byron Froese, Johnny Gaudreau, Erik Gudbranson, Trevor Lewis, Jacob Markstrom and Tyler Pitlick. The coaches are head coach Darryl Sutter, associate coach Kirk Muller and assistant Ryan Huska.
7 players have entered the NHL’s COVID-19 Protocol: Rasmus Andersson, Byron Froese, Johnny Gaudreau, Erik Gudbranson, Trevor Lewis, Jacob Markstrom, Tyler Pitlick. 3 coaches are in protocol: Ryan Huska, Kirk Muller, Darryl Sutter. 7 support staff are also in protocol.
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) December 15, 2021
The Flames outbreak has now reached a total of 27 cases, including 16 players. Six players and one staff member entered protocol on Monday, followed by three players on Tuesday.
Noah Hanifin, Milan Lucic and Sean Monahan were added to the list Tuesday. Elias Lindholm, Andrew Mangiapane, Brad Richardson, Adam Ruzicka, Chris Tanev, Nikita Zadorov and a member of the training staff were added Monday.
Of the 20 players in Calgary's lineup on Saturday vs. the Boston Bruins, only six are not currently on the protocol list: Mikael Backlund, Matthew Tkachuk, Blake Coleman, Daniel Vladar, Dillon Dube and Oliver Kylington.
The Flames have had four games postponed this week – including two upcoming home dates against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday and Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday – caused by the outbreak.
The NHL, in a statement released Wednesday, said the team's training facilities will remained closed until further notice.
A total of 10 NHL games have already been postponed, including five this week. The NHL and NHL Players' Association met Tuesday night to review COVID-19 protocols.
--with files from The Canadian Press
