Senators urge USA Hockey to end dispute

Pressure is mounting on USA Hockey in its wage dispute with the women’s national team.

On Monday, 16 U.S. senators wrote a letter to executive director Dave Ogrean, urging him to resolve the matter. The message came four days before the start of the women’s world championship, which players threatened to boycott if significant progress was not made toward an agreement.

The U.S. is the defending champion.

USA Hockey’s board of directors held a meeting Monday afternoon,but had not emerged with a resolution as of late Monday night. Players said Sunday in a statement that they were hopeful USA Hockey would agree to what was hammered out after 10-plus hours of in-person talks a week ago.

The senators, all Democrats, cited the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act and told Ogrean he should ensure the team receives “equitable resources.”

They joined a chorus of support that includes unions representing players from the NHL, NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball. Those organizations said over the weekend they stood with the women’s team and criticized USA Hockey for attempting to find replacement players.

Prominent NHL agent Allan Walsh tweeted Sunday, “Word circulating among NHL players that American players will refuse to play in men’s World Championships in solidarity with the women.”

In negotiations over the past 15 months, players have asked for a four-year contract that pays them outside the sixmonth Olympic period. The senators’ letter notes the $6,000 that players earn around the Olympics and USA Hockey’s $3.5 million annual spending on the men’s national team development program and other discrepancies.

“These elite athletes indeed deserve fairness and respect, and we hope you will be a leader on this issue as women continue to push for equality in athletics,” the senators wrote.