5 Things You Should Know About the NWHL
The National Women’s Hockey League is has had an interesting few years. After struggling to find funding and investors and having to cut players’ pay by 50%, they finally found their stride in 2017 when the Metropolitan Riveters partnered with the New Jersey Devils of the NHL.
Going into this season, here are five important things you should know about the NWHL.
Its been a minute
Prior to the start of this season, the last NWHL game was played on March 8th, 2020 when the Boston Pride took on the Minnesota Whitecaps in the Isobel Cup semi-finals. When was the title game supposed to be played you ask? March 13th, 2020. Yeah, so that didn’t end up happening.
Inaugural Season
When the league started in 2015, there were only 4 teams; Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, and Metropolitan Riveters. In 2018, they were joined by the Minnesota Whitecaps. And this season is the inaugural season of the 6th NWHL team, the Toronto Six.
Twitch Streaming
All of the regular season and playoff games are free to watch on the Amazon-owned streaming service Twitch. This is a very big deal for such a small league. It’s free exposure. However, Twitch will not have the Isobel Cup semi-finals or title game…because those will be on NBC Sports Network. The Isobel Cup semi-finals and title game will be the first professional women’s sporting event to be broadcast on a major cable channel. No biggie.
Social Media presence is unmatched
I took it upon myself to do some digging. Being 19 years old, social media digging is my favorite hobby. And boy was I not disappointed when I found the Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok of the league.
Riveters are sitting this one out
Despite the league being in a bubble in Lake Placid, New York, the Metropolitan Riveters have recently decided to withdraw from this season due to positive COVID-19 tests across the team. They have made a statement that all players have made it home safely and they plan to return next year for season seven in the National Women’s Hockey League.
Follow us on Instagram!!
Subscribe to our YouTube!!
