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USA Hockey offers new agreement to women's team after wage dispute, report

USA Hockey offers new agreement to women's team after wage dispute, report
Posted at 11:50 AM, Mar 28, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-28 15:56:53-04

USA Hockey has reportedly offered a new agreement to the Women's National Team after the team threatened to boycott the world championships that begin on Friday.

According to Ken Campbell from The Hockey News, USA Hockey came back to the women's team with a counter offer. Campbell reports that it is a "much, much better" offer than previous and there's a good chance it would be accepted.

The players do need to vote on the agreement before it is ratified.

Two weeks ago, the women's national team informed USA Hockey they would not report to training camp or play at the world championships without a new contract or fair wages. The world championships are scheduled to begin Friday at U.S. Hockey Arena in Plymouth.

They are the defending gold medalists.

"To voluntarily take ourselves out of the running to (repeat) is not easy, but it's what's right and we're asking for what's right and fair," forward Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson told the Associated Press by phone. "It's definitely hard. But as a group we've made this decision and as a team and I'm proud to do this with my teammates and to stand arm in arm with them and to say enough is enough."

On Monday, a report came out that the men's national team was considering joining the fight.

Many people and organizations came out in support of the women's team, including the NHL Player's Association, saying "It is important that the best American women players be on the ice for the world championship and the notion of seeking replacement players will only serve to make relations, now and in the future, much worse."