At this point, it’s easier to mention the Calgary Flames who are not in COVID protocol.

The team announced Wednesday that 17 members of the organization were added to the protocol and will be out at least 10 days, including head coach Darryl Sutter, associate coach Kirk Muller, star forward Johnny Gaudreau and goalie Jacob Markstrom, along with some staff members.

There are currently 16 Flames players in the protocol – only Oliver Kylington, Matthew Tkachuk, Dan Vladar, Blake Coleman, Dillon Dube, Michael Stone, and Mikael Backlund remain off the list. 

The situation with the Flames and COVID cases across the league is evolving by the minute.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Flames games were postponed through Dec. 18. Fans hoping to salute former captain Mark Giordano, who is slated to return to the Saddledome with the Seattle Kraken on Dec. 23, will likely have to wait, as it is expected Calgary will not take the ice 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.”

Flames fans hoping to salute former captain Mark Giordano, who is slated to return to the Saddledome with the Seattle Kraken on Dec. 23, will likely have to wait, as it is expected Calgary will not take the ice until after Christmas. 

On Tuesday, Flames general manager Brad Treliving walked media through the decision to cancel their flight to Chicago on Sunday after the team received its first positive tests late Saturday night.

“We made the decision to hold our flight up and delay it a little bit until we got the confirmation of the remaining tests,” Treliving said. “After a couple of hours [on Sunday], we let the players go home…we even looked at rescheduling the flight for Monday morning.”

Whenever Calgary does take the ice again, the team could still be without several key players. 

Players in protocol are required to miss at least 10 days of action, provided they continue to test negative and show no symptoms. 

Calgary’s outbreak shows the challenges teams face with having to wait hours for PCR test results.

The Flames tested their players on Saturday afternoon before their game versus the Boston Bruins and in advance of crossing the border to Chicago the following day. That game versus the Bruins went ahead as scheduled, but the Flames received some positive COVID tests later that night.

Now, 19 players who suited up on Saturday night (16 Flames, as well as Bruins’ forwards Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and Craig Smith) are in the league’s COVID protocols. 

The NHL’s current COVID guidelines do not go into detail on possible in-game transmission and, as of Tuesday, had not spoken to the Flames about in-game transmission.

The league did not respond to questions from TSN about the Flames outbreak.