More bad news for the Flames on Friday

When it rains, it pours and that’s the case in Calgary (well, at this time of year it’s snow, but you can the vibe). Mikael Backlund became the 19th Flames player to enter the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol on Friday as the outbreak is getting worse around the National Hockey League.

One member of the team’s support staff has also entered the protocol for the Flames, who are shutdown through at least Saturday. 

We are starting to get the feeling that the Flames will need to have more games postponed, especially with cases piling up as they continue to do.

It has been confirmed, on top of everything, that some of the players within the origination are dealing with the Omicron variant.

Forward Dillon Dube and defenseman Oliver Kylington were added to the protocol Thursday, along with one member of the team’s support staff. On Wednesday, it was a total 17 members of the organization that were placed on the protocol, including head coach Darryl Sutter, associate coach Kirk Muller, star forward Johnny Gaudreau and goalie Jacob Markstrom, along with some staff members.

Of the Flames active roster, only Matthew Tkachuk, Dan Vladar, Blake Coleman and Michael Stone remain off the list as of Friday morning.

The Flames games were postponed through Dec. 18, but the team could be sidelined until after Christmas.

“As an appropriate precaution, the team’s training facilities will remain closed for players until further notice,” the National Hockey League said in a release Wednesday afternoon. “The league is in the process of reviewing and revising the Flames’ regular season schedule, and will provide a further update next week.”