February 4, 2021 6:59 am
By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer
The National Women’s Hockey League called off the remainder of its season Wednesday on the eve of the playoffs because of additional positive test results for the coronavirus.
The NWHL cited safety concerns for what it called the suspension of play inside a quarantined bubble in Lake Placid, New York. COVID-19 instead wreaked havoc on the two-week event.
“We were not trending in the right direction,” interim commissioner Tyler Tumminia said of more test results coming in Tuesday night. “Our actual numbers per se were not alarming in comparison to the scope of other sports clubs or other sports leagues. However, if you project a number that was going to happen, it doesn’t make sense for us.”
The Metropolitan Riveters were first to drop out, citing COVID-19 concerns, followed by the Connecticut Whale on Monday.
That left the expansion Toronto Six competing with the Buffalo Beauts, Boston Pride and Minnesota Whitecaps for the Isobel Cup.
The semifinals and final on Thursday and Friday were scheduled to be shown on NBCSN in the U.S.
Toronto had the league s best record at 4-1-1.
The NWHL, which pays annual salaries reportedly up to US$15,000, didn t crown a 2020 champion in its fifth season because of the pandemic.
The sixth season was supposed to consist of 24 games over 14 days with no spectators in Lake Placid. The players were tested daily among other COVID-19 precautions.
The bubble has burst on NWHL season theglobeandmail.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theglobeandmail.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
NWHL cancels rest of season after additional virus positives
FILE- In this Feb. 10, 2019, file photo, Jonna Curtis, left, a forward on Team Stecklein, battles for the puck with Michelle Picard, right, a defender on Team Szabados, during the NWHL All-Star Hockey Game in Nashville, Tenn. The women s hockey league thinks it can make it work with the same kind of COVID-19 testing the NBA used in its Disney World bubble. Players, coaches and staff will essentially be limited to hotel and Herb Brooks Arena, the site of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” that serves as a historic setting for a unique season. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File) Mark Humphrey