South Florida sports schedules are being altered by COVID-19. Where things stand

The latest wave of COVID-19 cases around the South Florida sports scene has gone from impacting rosters to impacting schedules.

The NHL shut down the Florida Panthers through the league’s Christmas break one day after the Panthers played short-handed because they had seven players in the league’s COVID-19 protocols and did not have the salary cap space or the man power to fully replace the group.

The Orange Bowl Basketball Classic doubleheader on Saturday at FLA Live Arena is now down to just one game.

And the Miami Heat’s road game Friday against the Orlando Magic at one point looked to be in jeopardy because of COVID-19 issues inside the Magic organization.

“It’s a little scary,’ Heat forward and team captain Udonis Haslem said. “The last thing we want to do is get any more bodies out. So we’re going to do the best we can, we’re going to be as responsible as we can and we’re going to try to stay safe.”

Panthers shut down

The Panthers’ season being temporarily shut down didn’t come as much of a surprise.

Florida has seven players in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols.

Add in captain Aleksander Barkov being on injured reserve and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky’s status being up in the air after missing Friday’s practice, and the Panthers are currently without five of their nine players who have scored at least six goals, three of their top six forwards and half of their main defenseman group and their starting goalie.

“We’re just trying to piece together some things here,” interim coach Andrew Brunette said.

They did that Thursday, playing with just 16 skaters — two short of the usual amount a team dresses for a game. Four of those skaters were added to the roster hours before puck drop from the Charlotte Checkers, the Panthers’ minor-league affiliate. They lost that game against the Los Angeles Kings 4-1.

Now, the NHL is giving them time to get their situation under control.

The Panthers’ next three games — Saturday at the Minnesota Wild, Tuesday at the Chicago Blackhawks and Thursday at home against the Nashville Predators — have been postponed and the team’s training facility is closed.

Florida is one of three teams that are shut down for the next week due to COVID-19 concerns, joining the Colorado Avalanche and Calgary Flames.

According to the NHL, “a decision on when each team’s training facilities will reopen will be made by the league and the NHLPA in the coming days.”

Heat and Magic playing

While the Heat only has one player in the NBA’s health and safety protocols — two-way contract wing Caleb Martin — its opponent is in a much different situation.

The Magic has five players in health and safety protocols and another five players out due to injury.

Because the Magic’s roster was so thin, they had to sign four players from their G-League team to 10-day contracts to have enough players available to face the Heat.

Miami also had just 10 players available as it deals with injuries.

The NBA has also adjusted its health and safety guidelines, with the league and the National Basketball Players Association agreeing to stricter protocols through the holidays, according to a memo shared with teams Thursday night.

This includes increased mask usage and enhanced testing from Dec. 26-Jan. 8.

“You get the vaccine, you get the booster, you wash your hands, you wear your mask and then you just live life,” Haslem said. “I think when it gets to the point where it starts to affect the quality of life, that’s frustrating. So we can’t let it do that. We can only control what we can control. That’s taking care of yourself and being smart and being accountable.”

Orange Bowl basketball update

The Florida State Seminoles had to withdraw from Saturday’s Orange Bowl Basketball Classic due to COVID-19 issues, leaving the UCF Knights without an opponent right now for their 3:30 p.m. game.

The opening contest between the Florida Gators and USF Bulls is still set for a 1 p.m. tipoff in Sunrise.

As of Friday afternoon, UCF still planned to travel to Sunrise and is working to find a new opponent to play on Saturday.

FSU is one of 17 Division I men’s basketball programs and the only one in the state of Florida currently paused due to COVID-19.

Also on the college basketball front, the Miami Hurricanes’ women’s basketball team’s conference game against Duke on Sunday has been canceled because UM is in COVID protocols. The game has been ruled a forfeit, so the Hurricanes will receive a loss in their conference standings as a result.

Dolphins get two players back

On the positive side of things, two Miami Dolphins players who had tested positive over the last week — running backs Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed — have cleared the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols and are back on the active roster.

How they practice will determine their availability for Sunday’s game against the New York Jets but at least one if not both is expected to be active.

The Dolphins still have four players on the NHL’s COVID list: running back Phillip Lindsay, wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, safety Jevon Holland and practice squad running back Gerrid Doaks.

And while the Dolphins’ schedule has not yet been impacted due to COVID-19, the NFL has altered a few of the league’s games this week.

The Cleveland Browns and Las Vegas Raiders are now playing on Monday instead of Saturday. Two games were also moved from Sunday to Tuesday: Seattle Seahawks vs. Los Angeles Rams and Washington Football Team vs. the Philadelphia Eagles.

Miami Herald staff writers Anthony Chiang and Barry Jackson contributed to this report.