Don't mess with Molly Engstrom. The Connecticut Whale defenseman made clear with her actions this week that she's not going to put up with, well, whatever it is that Meghan Duggan of the Buffalo Beauts did to deserve this knockout punch.
In a recent game between the Whale and the Beauts, Engstrom chased Duggan down behind the play and gave her a good shove in the back. Duggan got to her feet and, unsurprisingly, seemed to take exception to Engstrom's antics. The pair traded off a couple more whacks before Engstrom went all Tyson-Holyfield on Duggan and knocked her out cold.
As you'll hear in the NWHL Player Safety video below, it's going to cost Engstrom one game, as she's been slapped with the NWHL's first-ever suspension. Considering the NWHL season is just 18 games, that's a pretty serious ban.
Go Molly?
That wasn't the only incident to catch the league's attention though. During a game between the New York Riveters and the Boston Pride, the Riveters' Taylor Holze was skating the puck up ice along the boards when she caught a nifty little hip check from NWHL All-star Zoe Hickel.
The play would have been fine had the Pride bench door been closed. It wasn't and this resulted.
It's prompted the league to change their rules pertaining to bench doors, which must now remain closed during play except for when (1) an injured player is in the process of leaving the ice, (2) a goaltender is in the process of being pulled, or (3) between whistles and in-between periods.
