by Maddie Levans
On March 21, the United States Women’s Ice Hockey team was set to arrive in Plymouth, Michigan, for the IIHF World Championship; however, the team never showed up for their check-in.
Out of protest, the players are boycotting the IIHF World Championship due to the enormous wage gap between them and their male counterparts.
As reported by Sports Illustrated, captain Meghan Duggan told ESPNW “We are asking for a living wage and for USA Hockey to fully support its programs for women and girls and stop treating us like an afterthought. We have represented our country with dignity and deserve to be treated with fairness and respect.”
In solidarity with the women’s hockey team, male NHL players have expressed their willingness to boycott the IIHF World Championship as well, which jeopardizes the chances of the United States participating in the 2018 Winter Olympic games.
As of April 3, the NHL has released a statement solidifying the defection of both the mens and womens United States hockey teams from the Olympic Games.
A spokesman of the NHL said in an official statement on the matter that: “…in an effort to create clarity among conflicting reports and erroneous speculation, this will confirm our intention to proceed with finalizing our 2017-18 regular season schedule without any break to accommodate the Olympic Winter Games. We now consider the matter officially closed.”