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Boston's Morning Newsletter
PWHL Boston plays for the first-ever Walter Cup tonight. Here's how to watch
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It’s already Wednesday. Let’s keep speeding along to the news:
Sticking it out: PWHL Boston was 80 seconds away from not even making the playoffs this spring. But tonight, they’ll play for the new professional women’s hockey league’s first-ever championship. The Lowell-based team hosts PWHL Minnesota in the decisive Game 5 for the inaugural Walter Cup tonight in front of a sold-out crowd at the Tsongas Center. Tied at 2-2, the best-of-five series has already featured its share of stunning turns.
- Catch up: It will be hard to match the drama of Game 4. Minnesota thought they had broken through the 0-0 stalemate in double overtime to win the cup — only for their goal to be overturned for goaltender interference (after the team had launched into full celebrations). Seventy seconds after play resumed, Swiss forward and Northeastern alum Alina Müller scored to send the series back to Massachusetts.
- Key figure to know: Boston’s playoff run this year has come on the back of goalie Aerin Frankel (also a Northeastern product). She stopped all 33 shots she faced in Game 4 — and 141 of the 145 shots she faced during Boston’s first-round sweep of Montreal. “Her ability to stay calm through all these ups and downs and her ability to keep us in games and win games for us … that’s what you want heading into the championship,” head coach Courtney Kessel recently said. “If you have a hot goalie, you can win.”
- How to watch Game 5 tonight: The puck drops at 7 p.m. and will be televised on NESN. Cord-cutters can also livestream the game on YouTube. (Just bookmark this link.)
- The big picture: The six-team PWHL launched in January — after the previous North American pro women’s hockey league folded. Here’s a look at why some observers think their business model might have more staying power than previous leagues.
It’s electric: Seventeen Massachusetts school districts are getting federal funding for new electric school buses, the White House announced this morning. The biggest winners include Andover, Fitchburg, Holyoke and Ipswich — which all got $5 million or more from the rebate program to purchase electric school buses.
- In Andover, the money will help the district grow their fleet of electric buses from five to 30. Assistant Superintendent Keith Taverna says they have been a hit with students. “They spoke to how quiet they are and how it’s a positive start to their academic day … which is one of the unintended benefits beyond being environmentally friendly,” Taverna told WBUR’s Amy Sokolow.
Boston Calling organizers say they’ll work on making the layout and experience better next year, following complaints about crowds Sunday that some called “scary” and “dangerous.” While festival organizers stopped short of an apology, they issued a statement saying “we never want anyone to feel uncomfortable or unsafe at the show.”
- Drone footage during pop singer Chappell Roan’s performance showed huge crowds of people tightly packed together — though organizers said the number of attendees was “several thousand” below the festival’s official capacity. Medical staff told WBUR there was not a significant increase in incidents on Sunday.
What’s in a name? Gov. Maura Healey’s administration is pushing to rename the state’s Office of Elder Affairs. The governor filed a bill yesterday that would change the name to the Office of Aging and Independence to reduce the stigma around aging and better reflect the 50-year-old agency’s mission. Healey’s office said their research found older adults do not connect with the term “elder.”
- The legislation would also replace the terms “elder,” “elderly person(s),” and “handicapped” with “older adult(s)” and “adult with a disability” in the language of the state’s laws.
Bird watch: The world’s fastest bird is continuing its comeback in Massachusetts. Scientists with the state’s Department of Fish and Game will put identifying bands on three recently hatched peregrine falcons this morning in Newburyport to track their growth.
- The state’s peregrine falcon population hit zero in the 1960s, largely due to the use of pesticides like DDT. But now, state ornithologist Andrew Vitz says there are around 45 nesting pairs of peregrine falcons across Massachusetts. (While they used to pick rocky cliffs to nest, most falcons in the state now nest atop tall buildings and bridges.)
P.S.— The state has six live cams that let you watch some of those peregrine falcon nests up close. Don’t miss the nest atop UMass Amherst’s library (which has a very floofy chick).
