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/Associated Press

NWHL Suspends 2021 Season Due to Positive COVID-19 Tests, Safety Concerns

Paul KasabianFeb 3, 2021

The National Women's Hockey League has suspended the remainder of the 2021 season amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with the league making an official announcement Tuesday:

"The NWHL and the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) have agreed, due to new positive COVID-19 tests and the resulting safety concerns for the players, their respective staff & the community that the remainder of the 2021 NWHL Season in Lake Placid have been suspended."

Marisa Ingemi of NBC Sports and Sportsnet provided more information:

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The six-team league played a truncated regular season in a bubble environment in Lake Placid, New York beginning January 23 before moving onto the round-robin portion of its schedule.

Unfortunately, the Metropolitan Riveters were forced to withdraw after three regular-season games following multiple positive COVID-19 tests on the team.

The Connecticut Whale withdrew from the season Monday, with the team releasing a statement on the matter:

The NWHL was set to begin its single-elimination, four-team playoff featuring the Toronto Six, Minnesota Whitecaps, Buffalo Beauts and Boston Pride in the fight for the Isobel Cup.

The COVID-19 pandemic also forced the 2019-20 NWHL season to finish without a champion, as the league was suspended before the Isobel Cup between Boston and Minnesota.