NHL players are now calling out the league, telling them to go on pause until after Christmas

In case you missed it earlier today, the Boston Bruins have added three players and one staff member to the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list. Joining captain Patrice Bergeron in quarantine are forwards Trent Frederic and Anton Blidh, goaltender Jeremy Swayman and an unnamed staff member.

Meanwhile the majority of the Calgary Flames' roster and staff is also on the league's COVID-19 protocol list. And both the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers will be forced to play shorthanded this evening due to COVID-19 related absences. 

In Ontario, the provincial government has limited attendance at Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators games to just 50% for at least the next three weeks while they try to limit the spread of the new Omicron variant of COVID-19.

To put things bluntly, the NHL has a serious COVID-19 problem.

Here's the entire list of players currently in quarantine:

Arizona Coyotes: Lawson Crouse (Dec. 16), Jay Beagle (Dec. 16)

Boston Bruins: Brad Marchand (Dec. 14), Craig Smith (Dec. 14), Patrice Bergeron (Dec. 15), Jeremy Swayman (Dec. 16), Travis Fedric (Dec. 16), Anton Blidh (Dec. 16)

Calgary Flames: Elias Lindholm (Dec. 13), Andrew Mangiapane (Dec. 13), Brad Richardson (Dec. 13), Adam Ruzicka (Dec. 13), Chris Tanev (Dec. 13), Nikita Zadorov (Dec. 13), Milan Lucic (Dec. 14), Sean Monahan (Dec. 14), Noah Hanifin (Dec. 14), Rasmus Andersson (Dec. 15), Byron Froese (Dec. 15), Johnny Gaudreau (Dec. 15), Erik Gudbranson (Dec. 15), Trevor Lewis (Dec. 15), Jacob Markstrom (Dec. 15), Tyler Pitlick (Dec. 15), Darryl Sutter (head coach, Dec. 15), Kirk Muller (associate coach, Dec. 15), Ryan Huska (assistant coach, Dec. 15), Dillon Dube (Dec. 16), Oliver Kylington (Dec. 16)

— The Flames also have eight staff members in protocol

Carolina Hurricanes: Sebastian Aho (Dec. 13), Seth Jarvis (Dec. 13), Jordan Staal (Dec. 14), Andrei Svechnikov (Dec. 14), Ian Cole (Dec. 14), Steven Lorentz (Dec. 14)

Colorado Avalanche: Devon Toews (Dec. 14)

Detroit Red Wings: Robby Fabbri (Dec. 15), Michael Rasmussen (Dec. 15)

Edmonton Oilers: Ryan McLeod (Dec. 14), Dave Tippet (head coach, Dec. 14), Devin Shore (Dec. 16)

Florida Panthers: Sam Bennett (Dec. 15), Radko Gudas (Dec. 15), Ryan Lomberg (Dec. 15), Brandon Montour (Dec. 15), Carter Verhaeghe (Dec. 15)

Nashville Predators: Ryan Johansen (Dec. 12), Mikael Granlund (Dec. 15), Matt Luff (Dec. 15), Michael McCarron (Dec. 15), Philip Tomasino (Dec. 15), Ben Harpur (Dec. 15), John Hynes (head coach, Dec. 15), Nick Cousins (Dec. 16) Dan Lambert (assistant coach, Dec. 15), Todd Richards (assistant coach, Dec. 15), Ben Vanderklok (goaltending coach, Dec, 15), Dan Hinote (assistant coach, Dec. 16)

New Jersey Devils: Nico Hischier (Dec. 11), Ryan Graves (Dec. 11)

New York Islanders: Mat Barzal (Dec. 14)

Philadelphia Flyers: Morgan Frost (Dec. 14)

Seattle Kraken: Colin Blackwell (Dec. 8), Yanni Gourde (Dec. 11), Riley Sheahan (Dec. 11), Jay Leach (assistant coach, Dec. 11)

Vancouver Canucks: Luke Schenn (Dec. 14), Juho Lammikko (Dec. 14), Brad Hunt (Dec. 14), Tucker Poolman (Dec. 14), Jason King (assistant coach, Dec. 15)

Washington Capitals: Garnet Hathaway (Dec. 6), Evgeny Kuznetsov (Dec.15)

The NHL has announced enhanced protocols into the New Year, but many fans and analysts are calling for the league to pause operations to get this current outbreak under control. In fact, even the players are beginning to speak out against league for not suspending operations.

Nashville Predators forward Nick Cousins, himself on the COVID-19 protocol list, posted on social media earlier today asking for the league to shut down until after Christmas.

Check it out:

It's one thing to have ESPN and Sportsnet reporters calling for a league-wide pause, it's quite another to have the players themselves calling for it. It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out over the balance of this week. Stay tuned, hockey fans.