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NEW YORK (AP) — The National Women's Hockey League is adjusting its schedule in order to complete the playoffs in March before players leave for the world championships.
The regular season will now end in mid-march and the playoffs will be concluded on March 19, the second-year league announced Thursday. The original schedule included a three-week break before the end of the season and the start of the playoffs in late April.
The change was requested by the players, the league said in its release.
"One of the primary missions of the NWHL is to help women realize Olympic dreams and national team aspirations, so concluding our season prior to the world championships is the right thing to do," NWHL commissioner Dani Rylan said. "We always want to be supportive of our national team players, so we're glad to have worked something out with the player reps."
The NWHL also announced all four teams — Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale and New York Riveters — will return for a third season. The 2017-18 season will include some neutral-site games to gauge interest for expansion, which wouldn't occur until the following season at the earliest.
"We have received interest from several markets and prospective ownership groups, and we will review these options over the next year," Rylan said. "We're grateful for their enthusiasm for the NWHL and professional women's hockey."
The NWHL, the first professional women's league in the country to pay players, began its inaugural season in Oct. 2015. Boston beat Buffalo to win the league's first championship last March.
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