Members of the U.S. women's national hockey team last night "agreed to a four-year contract with USA Hockey" to "avert a threatened boycott" of the upcoming IIHF World Championship, according to Allen & Perez of USA TODAY. The team will "hold a practice" tomorrow at 3:15pm ET in Plymouth, Mich., with the tournament beginning Friday night with a U.S.-Canada game. The players will now "make around $70,000 each per year, although they could make more than $100,000 in Olympic years if they win gold." Sources said that the breakdown includes USA Hockey "creating an annual fund of $950,000 to be divided among the 23 players." The range for the fund in '17 is $850,000-950,000. The deal "ensures each player will receive" $2,000 per month during the life of the deal. The women's players will also "receive the same accommodations as men's players for the world championships." The deal also includes the "formation of a Women's High Performance Advisory Group that will contain former and current members of the women's national team." The group will "offer advice in helping USA Hockey advance girls and women's hockey." An "eight-hour negotiation session on Monday in Philadelphia laid the groundwork for the new deal" (USA TODAY, 3/29). In N.Y., Seth Berkman cites a source as saying that the deal also "provides the female players with travel and insurance provisions that equal what the men’s national team receives." Univ. of Minnesota Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women In Sport Dir Mary Jo Kane said the deal is "absolutely an iconic moment in women’s sports." Kane: "It’s not just because of the women’s team themselves; it’s how people, women in particular, understood what it was they were doing and why they were doing it" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/29).
MAKING HISTORY: The players' lead attorney John Langel said, "It's historic, it's new and different, and the players are happy" (ESPN.com, 3/29). In N.Y., Clayton & Tasch note after the deal's announcement, several players "tweeted 'To Our Dearest Fans, Together WE dared to make history. And couldn’t have done it without you. See you at #2017WWC #BeBoldForChange #OwnIt'” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 3/29). U.S. F Monique Lamoureux-Morando said, "At the end of the day, we as women’s hockey, we made history" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/29). In Detroit, Gregg Krupa notes the deal came together after "15 months of talks and a 14-day boycott" by the women's team (DETROIT NEWS, 3/29).
KEY POINTS: ESPN.com's Craig Custance lists his "key takeaways" for both sides of the deal. The women's players are "getting an overdue raise," but there are "going to be relationships and reputations to repair." Asked if the length of time it took to give the women's team a pay raise tarnished USA Hockey's image, USA Hockey Exec Dir Dave Ogrean said, "I sure hope not. I hope we get a lot of credit for resolving this." Custance notes the Women's High Performance Advisory Group will also "give the women more of a voice within USA Hockey." There is also a "new opportunity to build on the momentum and publicity of the boycott" (ESPN.com, 3/29). In Buffalo, Amy Moritz writes under the header, "Here's What America's Women Hockey Players Were Fighting For" (BUFFALO NEWS, 3/29).
