PLYMOUTH, Mich. (AP) – Meghan Duggan and her U.S. hockey teammates were on the ice practicing, just where they wanted to be, two days after agreeing to a deal that avoided a boycott – and a little more than 24 hours before playing rival Canada in the world championship opener for both teams.
“It’s our Stanley Cup in any given year, in a non-Olympic year,” Duggan, the team’s captain, said Thursday. “To put that on the line initially for us was an unbelievable gut-wrenching sacrifice. It was one of (the most) difficult things we’ve ever had to do. So, to really stick together throughout the entire process and now find ourselves here, yesterday, ready to play in the world championships is just … it’s the greatest feeling in world.”
The American women made a bold move earlier this month, publicly threatening to not show up at the marquee event at USA Hockey arena, and it paid off when the off-ice battle ended Tuesday night with a four-year deal.
Members of the U.S. women’s hockey team will now make $3,000-$4,000 a month with the ability to earn about $71,000 annually. They can make up to $129,000 in Olympic years with contributions from the U.S. Olympic Committee. That’s quite a boost for a group of women who were getting $1,000 a month for six months around the Olympics.
And like their male counterparts that compete for USA Hockey, the women are flying in business class and staying at nice hotels.