Boston Pride face Toronto Six in NWHL playoff semifinal after season resumption
The NWHL games, including Saturday's Isobel Cup Final, will be broadcast on NBCSN.
When the National Women’s Hockey League’s 2021 Lake Placid-based season was suspended in February due to several positive COVID-19 tests, Boston Pride players were left to think about similarities to the year before.
In 2020, the Pride were 23-1 and on the brink of the Isobel Cup championship game against Minnesota, slated to be played on Boston’s home ice at Warrior Arena. But with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the final game was first postponed and later canceled.
A year later, the virus was once again directly affecting the season.
This time, however, it appears that the impact of COVID-19 won’t force the complete cancelation of crowning a champion.
With two semifinals scheduled for Friday and an Isobel Cup Final set for Saturday at 7 p.m., the NWHL is hoping to finally get its moment in front of a nationally televised audience.
Both the Pride’s matchup with the Toronto Six at 5 p.m. as well as Minnesota and Connecticut (set for 8 p.m.) will be shown on NBCSN. Saturday’s final will also be broadcast (with games available to watch on Twitch as well).
In Friday’s first semifinal, Pride forward and Massachusetts native Mary Parker is looking forward to having another chance at Toronto. A 2021 expansion team, the Six defeated the Pride in the bubble, 2-1.
“Toronto’s a great team and they were playing amazing hockey up in the bubble,” said Parker. The Six will be playing without forwards Mackenzie MacNeil and Taytum Clairmont.
Despite entering the bubble as one of the favorites, the Pride struggled to find consistency. Boston was 3-4 at the time of the postponement.
“During the pause since Lake Placid, our team really came together,” Parker noted. “We’ve regrouped, and we’ve had a few strong weeks of practices. It was kind of just building off of where we left it in Lake Placid. I think that’s something that excites us to rolling into tomorrow and benefitting from the extra time.”
She credited the league’s growing distribution of talent as one reason why Boston had been up and down.
“I think that’s a tribute to the parity in the league,” said Parker. “As we went through, we were starting to find our footing. Kind of the same as everyone, we hadn’t played a game as a team since the beginning of last March. So kind of getting those first games under our belt and getting back together in a game situation just helped as we continued through the games.”
Given the context of 2020 — having a final game get canceled on the brink of a title — Parker explained that the Pride’s reaction to the Lake Placid competition getting called off.
“The outcome that transpired in the bubble was disappointing at the time,” said Parker. “That was something that, when it was first postponed, we didn’t know what the outcome would be. But then a few weeks later when we learned that we would be playing in the semifinals, I think that was something that triggered more excitement.
“Obviously having the experience last year with the initial postponement and ultimate cancelation while knowing that this year the postponement got rescheduled and we’re ready to go, it just provides an additional layer of excitement,” Parker added. “It just shows the league’s commitment to putting on the games and ultimately hosting a championship this weekend.”
And while Parker admitted that the home ice advantage “won’t quite be the same without fans,” she acknowledged being “pretty pumped that the games are in Boston.”
Despite the lack of fans present, Parker described how important the television broadcast is for the league as a whole.
“The partnership with NBC Sports to broadcast the games is truly phenomenal,” Parker concluded. “It’s a testament to the growth of the women’s sport in the game itself and being able to broadcast to a national audience just helps the growth in the future.”
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