U.S. women agree to new deal

‘Sport the big winner,’ players say as they prepare to face Canada in world championship opener

With just enough time to hit the practice ice before the opening game Friday against Team Canada, USA Hockey and its national women’s team settled their wage dispute late Tuesday.

The players voted for a four-year deal that gives them enough of what they wanted to prevent a boycott of the world championship, which begins Friday in Plymouth, Mich.

The women’s team has been fighting for more than a year to secure a deal providing them with a living wage, better benefits and equitable treatment in line with what the men’s national team, primarily comprised of NHL players, get.

“Our sport is the big winner today,” said Meghan Duggan, captain of the U.S. team, announcing the deal.

“We stood up for what we thought was right and USA Hockey’s leadership listened.”

The financial details of the contract were not immediately made public but the jointly released statement said it includes creating a women’s high-performance advisory group to advance girls’ and women’s hockey from programming to marketing and fundraising.

“We’ll now move forward together knowing we’ll look back on this day as one of the most positive in the history of USA Hockey,” said Jim Smith, president of USA Hockey.

“Today reflects everyone coming together and compromising in order to reach a resolution for the betterment of the sport.”

The American women’s fight hit the international spotlight two weeks ago when they vowed to boycott the championship — an event they are hosting this year and won gold at last year — unless they got a contract that improved their wages and their treatment from USA Hockey.

This week, just days before Friday’s scheduled game against their biggest rivals Canada, the women gained a flurry of new supporters.

U.S. senators urged USA Hockey to settle the dispute and follow the federal law requiring “equitable support” for national men’s and women’s teams, and some suggested that American NHL players might refuse to play in their own world championship if the women’s contract wasn’t resolved.

The U.S. and Canada have been the only teams to win gold, or silver, at the women’s world championship, dating back to 1990.

Russia, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland have all won bronze medals.

Canada has the lead with10 golds to the U.S.’s seven but the American women have won six of the last seven tournaments.

The players thought they had a deal last week but USA Hockey’s executive committee backed off it and the organization sought to find replacement players for the upcoming championship, adding more fuel to the fire.

With a deal finally in place, the American women were bound for Michigan and planned to hold their first team practice Thursday afternoon at the USA Hockey Arena.

This wage dispute was part of a broader and ongoing battle for greater equality for all women’s sports — from pay and benefits to competitive opportunities and television coverage.

The U.S. women’s soccer team, which has been without a contract for months, made headlines last summer with their demands for equal pay and equal conditions from U.S. Soccer, noting that its players get paid far less for winning than the men get for losing.

In this case, the women were not seeking the same contract as USA Hockey provides the men who put on the national jersey for Olympic Games and world championships. The organization doesn’t directly pay the men more than the women were getting.

Hilary Knight, veteran forward of the U.S. national team, said the signed deal would “have a positive and lasting impact” for women’s hockey.

“This is an inspirational time and we’re excited to get back on the ice and represent our country,” she said.