NHL postpones another 2 Flames games amid COVID-19 outbreak

The National Hockey League (NHL) has postponed another two Calgary Flames games as the team deals with an outbreak of COVID-19.

On Friday, Mikael Backlund and another staff member entered the NHL'S COVID-19 protocol, bringing the number of people sidelined in the organization to 32, including 19 players and 13 club members.

The NHL originally said on Monday that three Flames games had been cancelled after six players and one staff member entered the league's COVID-19 protocol.

The cancelled games included:

• Dec. 13 against the Blackhawks in Chicago;
• Dec. 14 against the Predators in Nashville; and
• Dec. 16 against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Saddledome.

By Wednesday, a Dec. 18 game against the Columbus Blue Jackets was also delayed.

On Friday, the NHL announced two more games had been scrapped, including the team's Dec. 21 game against the Anaheim Ducks and Dec. 23 game against the Seattle Kraken.

The NHL has announced it has extended the period of game postponements for the #Flames through the game previously scheduled for Dec. 23 against Seattle. https://t.co/ElOZeuuEjg

— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) December 17, 2021

The Flames confirmed nearly half of the players tested positive following a Dec. 11 game against Boston Bruins.

Head Physician and Medical Director Dr. Ian Auld says they're looking into whether transmission can occur during a game.

"Omicron is creating a different landscape on that and I think the answers are not clear at this point," Auld said.

"But 100 per cent the league is looking and talking to Boston and talking to us, looking at all the situations to try and determine whether on-ice transmission is going to be an issue for us moving forward."

Flames General Manager Brad Treliving said Friday the Flames have become a case study because of the presence of the Omicron variant.

"In this particular variant, we're learning a lot more about it as we go along here," Treliving said.

"So not only for us, but a lot of people in the medical community are using our situation to find out exactly – or learn a lot about the things we're going through."

According to Auld, the cases so far have been either asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic.

"A lot of cases are in evolution and may change," Auld said.

"So chills, fever and fatigue – but quite quickly turning the corner within 36 or 48 hours. So overwhelmingly, we've seen mild disease, which is very reassuring for hopefully the world, but certainly for us as a group."

Treliving says the top priority for the organization is taking care of the players and their families. Despite everything that's going on, Treliving says his team is in good spirits.

"They're doing well," eh said. "You never want to have your season interrupted."

"We're having a good year and we're eager to get back. Again, number one, let's keep the medical situation paramount and in front of mind, but competitively they want to get back. We're trying to look at this as a bump in the road. 

"We're going to get through it, we're going to get to the other side of it," he said."Nobody likes being holed up, but all things considered the group is doing well."

The team still has three games scheduled before the end of the month, including one on Dec. 27 against the Edmonton Oilers, one of Dec. 30 against the Kraken and a New Year's Eve game at home against the Winnipeg Jets.

The NHL also announced Friday that several Colorado Avalanche and Florida Panthers games would be postponed at least through the scheduled completion of the league's holiday break on Dec. 26 due to concerns over positive COVID-19 cases.

"A decision on when each team’s training facilities will re-open will be made by the League and the NHLPA in the coming days," the NHL said in a news release. "The league is in the process of reviewing and revising all three teams’ regular season schedules."

"The Flames, Avalanche and Panthers organizations have followed, and will continue to follow, all recommended guidelines aimed at protecting the health and safety of their players, staff and community at large as set by the NHL, local, state/provincial and federal agencies."