Things are about to get crazy in the NWHL and that’s great news for hockey fans.
While we wait on news from the NHL on their plans for the 2020-21 season, the NWHL have gone full steam ahead and announced a pretty awesome format for their new season.
The National Women’s Hockey League will stage a condensed regular season and the Playoffs in the span of just two weeks inside a Bubble at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York from Jan. 23, through Feb. 5, 2021.
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I mean, if that doesn’t scream old school hockey to you, then I don’t know what does.
Although there will be no fans in attendance, the NWHL are committed to crowning a 2021 Isobel Cup Champion and, as we’ve seen with the NHL and the NBA, operating inside a Bubble is the best way to get things done in a COVID-19 world.
All six NWHL teams – the Boston Pride, the Buffalo Beauts, the Connecticut Whale, the Metropolitan Riveters, the Minnesota Whitecaps and the Toronto Six – will fight it out for the 2021 Isobel Cup.
Per the NWHL, all six teams will play five games before contesting a Playoff Round which will determine the four teams that will go into the Semi-Final.
From there, the top seed will face the fourth seed and the second seed will take on the third seed in a single-elimination series, before the 2021 Isobel Cup Final takes place on Feb. 5.
Regular testing will take place inside The Bubble to ensure that player safety always remains paramount, with Yale Pathology Labs signed on to conduct the COVID-19 testing.
It is a brilliant plan by the NWHL but the best part of the announcement was the fact that all professional players under contract with the NWHL for the 2020-21 season will be compensated in full despite the condensed schedule, while those who may want to opt out will still receive their complete salaries.
The National Women’s Hockey League today announced a plan to play the upcoming season and 2021 Isobel Cup Playoffs at the 1980 Rink-Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, NY
— PHF (@PHF) November 25, 2020
PRESS RELEASE: https://t.co/EWlz31m8wY pic.twitter.com/QyCKGCKQ0K
That is just brilliant and the NWHL deserves complete praise for that move, as do the players with over 95 percent committing to the Return To Play Plan.
The fact that the NWHL also plan to pack so much hockey into two weeks should only translate into a captivating and mouthwatering hockey product, one that should attract a large audience.
It should hopefully shine more light on the NWHL and the high level of play while, with the 2020-21 NHL season still in limbo, hopefully those starved of hockey action will tune in to the NWHL and see what it is all about.
Plus, with the action taking place on the site where the legendary “Miracle on Ice” took place in 1980, there is something quite special about the NWHL’s plans for the 2020-21 season and it will be must-watch TV for all hockey fanatics.
Again, they’ve absolutely hit it out of the park with this Return To Play Plan and I for one can’t wait to see a 2021 Isobel Cup Champion crowned.