The Connecticut Whale withdraw from the tournament in Lake Placid – the second team to drop out. As a result, the Buffalo Beauts and Boston Pride will be fighting for the third and fourth seeds tonight. The NWHL sent an email saying they have accepted the Whale’s decision to withdraw. The Whale were 2-2-0 before deciding to withdraw.
The @CTWhale_NWHL have withdrawn from Lake Placid https://t.co/5myN48wrGY
— Mike Murphy (@DigDeepBSB) February 2, 2021
Connecticut Whale Withdraw from Lake Placid Tournament
While it is unclear why the Whale withdrew from the tournament, the team did have several players missing from its starting players on Monday. While there were allegedly no new positive tests, the team did share a hotel with the Metropolitan Riveters – the other team to drop out due to COVID-19 concerns. The health and safety of the players is obviously a massive concern – but it seems likely that the team would have reported withdrawing from the tournament if it was due to COVID-19. However, all signs point to the Connecticut Whale withdrawing as COVID related. It seems likely the organization didn’t want to risk having COVID spread among their players and staff, and withdrew because of it.
As for the tournament, the Minnesota Whitecaps, the Toronto Six, the Beauts, and the Pride are the teams left to fight for the championship. The Pride stomped the Beauts in a 7-1 rout tonight, claiming that third seed in the playoffs. The Whitecaps and Six are the top two teams left in the tournament. The Six haven’t lost a game since their first, sitting at a record of 4-1 with a goal differential of +7 over those games. Minnesota has been solid down the stretch, though not as dominant as the Six. They went 3-1 with a goal differential of +2, and have the second most penalty minutes. The NWHL will be live streaming the semifinals will be on the NWHL’s Twitch account, don’t miss out!
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