Two times in the span of two years the Boston Pride thought their chances at an Isobel Cup had been swept out from under their feet because of an invisible opponent. The 2020 season looked like all but a lock for the Pride as they had 23 wins and only one loss, with only the championship game left to play. And then, the world stopped.

There would be no championship game. There would be no title celebration for anyone. Would there be a game rescheduled? We didn’t know, but we found out a ‘2020 Isobel Cup Champions’ banner would be hung nowhere. The Pride did earn the title of regular season champions, but anyone who plays knows what the real prize is.

Then, we learned that there may be a solution. After seeing the success of the NBA, the WNBA, and the NHL’s bubbles, the NWHL announced they would have a bubble of their own in Lake Placid, New York at the legendary Herb Brooks arena. Not only that, they would have games be nationally broadcast on NBCSN. It’s the dream scenario for Boston, a chance to finish what they started a season ago, and a chance to do it in front of millions of people.

Quite honestly, when the games started in Lake Placid, it didn’t look promising for the Pride. But then again, with the hiatus that they had, you can’t expect a team to gel right away, let alone rostering the most rookies of any NWHL team. Even with the short regular season in place, it looked like Boston might miss the postseason. Then, players started testing positive in the bubble. You could almost feel a sense of “oh s**t.” But games continued, and the Pride started winning games the way they used to… by a lot. It started to feel like the championship mojo had found its way back into the squad.

Then, deja vu.

With too many covid cases on too many teams, the bubble proved to be unsuccessful, and there wouldn’t be games played to determine a champion… or so we thought. The NWHL proved it’s resiliency and innovation when they announced that the 2021 championship would be determined with a two day, winner-take-all semifinal and final on the 26th and 27th of March, with Boston being the host team (even though in both games they were technically the away team). Not only that, the games would still be all broadcast on NBCSN.

That’s all the motivation the Pride needed. The first semifinal game, Boston cruised past Toronto 6-2, continuing a great Boston tradition of giving Toronto hockey teams an early exit from the postseason. I failed to mention that the Pride were slated to play Minnesota in the 2020 final. Not only that, Minnesota handed the Pride their only loss in their 23-win season.

It was time to put an end to everything, and end it all they did. The Pride are 2021 Isobel Cup Champions, and it’s going to be a championship story that will be told for a long time. Boston is a hockey city, and the Pride proved that when the NWHL was nationally broadcast for the first time.

That certainly won’t be the last.

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