Reports: USA Hockey, Women’s National Team have tentative deal in place
By @MichaelCaples –
After the USA Hockey Board of Directors held a lengthy teleconference meeting Monday to discuss and talks continued afterward, the U.S. Women’s National Team and USA Hockey have now reached a tentative agreement, according to a report from USA Today.
Reporter A.J. Perez says the women will vote in the next hour on the proposed agreement.
“@usahockey, women’s national hockey team players have a tentative deal in place.
— A.J. Perez (@byajperez) March 28, 2017
The Women’s National Team may indeed still play in the 2017 IIHF Women’s World Championship in Plymouth starting this Friday.
USWNT players have yet to vote on USA Hockey’s deal, but there is great optimism that the real squad will play in the Worlds.
— Chris Botta (@ChrisBottaNHL) March 28, 2017
Told USA Hockey has come back to Women’s national team with a counter offer which will be voted upon by players in next 30 minutes or so.
— Ken Campbell (@THNKenCampbell) March 28, 2017
Being told USA Hockey’s offer to players is much, much better than previous ones and there’s a very good chance it will be accepted.
— Ken Campbell (@THNKenCampbell) March 28, 2017
The tentative agreement hopefully brings to an end the boycott started by the Women’s National Team on March 15. That boycott began with a united social media message shared by the members of the national team, which can be seen below.
US WNT will not play in 2017 World Championship due to stalled negotiations over fair wages and support from USA Hockey #BeBoldForChange pic.twitter.com/qEXVyoKE6y
— Hilary Knight (@Hilary_Knight) March 15, 2017
USA Hockey issued two official public statements on the matter, first on March 15 and then a substantial follow-up with many points addressed on March 17.
Throughout the boycott, the Women’s Team issued statements through their legal representatives at Ballard Spahr and coordinated team-wide social media messaging.
Reports indicated that over the past weekend, USA Hockey was reaching out to potential replacement players, as the calendar moved closer to the start of Women’s Worlds in Plymouth.