NWHL Plans To Finish Mini-Season In Boston With Championship Weekend

The NWHL would like to settle its season right here in Boston.

The NWHL has a plan to finish its suspended 2021 season later this month in Boston at Warrior Ice Arena, NWHL commissioner Tyler Tumminia confirmed to The Boston Globe’s Kat Cornetta on Monday. The NWHL will stage two single-elimination semifinals March 26 and a one-off final March 27 under the plan.

“What really matters the most is giving these athletes a chance to make history and really to finish what they started,” Tumminia told Cornetta. “This gives them the opportunity to compete and lift that cup, and hopefully demonstrate to others that the NWHL is strong and well-positioned for growth.”

The NWHL plan schedules the fourth-seeded Boston Pride to take on the top-seeded Toronto Six at 5 p.m. ET on March 26. The No. 2 Minnesota Whitecaps will play the third-seeded Connecticut Whale at 7 p.m. ET on March 26. The semifinal winners will face off at 7 p.m. ET on March 27 in the championship game.

Fans won’t be allowed to attend the NWHL games at Warrior Ice Arena, but NBCSN will broadcast the three contests.

The NWHL originally intended to stage a shortened season over two weeks in January and February at Lake Placid, N.Y. in a bubble environment. However, a rash of positive COVID-19 tests forced the NWHL to suspend the season Feb. 3.

The league now plans to resume and finish the campaign