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Breaking: The #NWHL season has been suspended "due to new positive COVID-19 tests & the resulting safety concerns for the players, staff & community."
The release says that the NWHL and the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) have agreed to suspend.
Press conference to come later today.
Press conference to come later today.
What I can say for now is this: #NWHL players will be (or have been) compensated in full, even though the season had to be called off.
Will have more later. Presser at 5:30 pm with:
- #NWHL commissioner Ty Tumminia
- Toronto Six Owner Johanna Neilson Boynton
- Toronto Six Pres/HC @digitmurphy
- Buffalo Beauts HC @50yroldmusings
- NWHLPA Ex. Director @battaglinoa
- #NWHL commissioner Ty Tumminia
- Toronto Six Owner Johanna Neilson Boynton
- Toronto Six Pres/HC @digitmurphy
- Buffalo Beauts HC @50yroldmusings
- NWHLPA Ex. Director @battaglinoa
"Safety has always been our first priority. I do feel we made the right decision... instead of putting our athletes, our staff as well as ORDA and their staff at continued risk, it was in our best interest to suspend." - #NWHL commissioner Ty Tumminia
"Are we disappointed? Unbelievably disappointed. We wanted to play there, we wanted to play Digit, we wanted to play Toronto tomorrow night. We had one-on-one meetings with each player last night, just mental health checks to make sure everyone was up. We wanted that." - Perram
"We had a designated threshold of when we would make that decision, when a team would be out because of COVID risk or because of COVID." - #NWHL commissioner Tumminia
Tumminia said basically once positives started coming back for the Riveters and they hit that threshold, there was no choice but to send them home.
Tumminia said the Riveters had 10 positive cases. #NWHL
The league and ORDA has agreed that they will not disclose the exact numbers of positive cases or which teams were affected due to privacy levels and HIPAA concerns. #NWHL
"There will be an incredible amount of evaluation and assessment and change. Some necessary change, I believe." - Tumminia on her plans for the future of the #NWHL re: administrative changes
"I actually see it as a success. I was 12 hours away from history. It's really frustrating and breaks my heart. But overall, I really truly believe that this is successful. We saw a lot of hard work & grit. I'm very proud of where we got to, this point." - #NWHL commish Tumminia
Both Tumminia & Johanna Neilson Boynton suggested that the most heartbreaking part of this is that the #NWHL and its teams/players never made it to NBCSN.
#NWHL
For those still in Lake Placid, there are protocols in place for getting those folks home. Have to test negative on exiting Lake Placid. Those who test positive will be removed "as soon as possible" in conjunction with individual teams, staff, leadership, owners, etc.
For those still in Lake Placid, there are protocols in place for getting those folks home. Have to test negative on exiting Lake Placid. Those who test positive will be removed "as soon as possible" in conjunction with individual teams, staff, leadership, owners, etc.
#NWHL did PCR tests 72 hours before teams came to Lake Placid. Everyone was tested again as soon as they got to LP. The next scheduled test was a PCR test on Mon., Jan. 25. The league then decided to increase testing to "pretty much daily."
Tumminia called it a "restricted access environment."
"The athletes came into designated hotels on designated floors. They were restricted in the sense that they went from their room right to the rink, rink right to the room. That's how we defined it."
#NWHL
"The athletes came into designated hotels on designated floors. They were restricted in the sense that they went from their room right to the rink, rink right to the room. That's how we defined it."
#NWHL
The press conference is now over. Obviously there are still a lot of questions - including some that realistically can't even be answered right now. I'll have more soon.
