The U.S. women’s hockey team’s ongoing dispute with USA Hockey over fair wages and treatment relative to the men’s team received some significant support this weekend from the NHLPA and the NBPA, but a report of a potential world championships boycott from U.S. men’s hockey players could be even more important. Octagon agent Allan Walsh shared that news in a tweet Sunday afternoon:
Word circulating among NHL players that American players will refuse to play in men's World Championships in solidarity with the women.
— Allan Walsh🏒 (@walsha) March 26, 2017
If this boycott does come to pass, that could be a key part of forcing USA Hockey to at least partially accede to the women’s demands. The men’s IIHF world championships don’t start until May 5 (they’ll be held in Cologne, Germany and Paris, France, and will run through May 21), and they are often overshadowed by the NHL playoffs (at least in North America), but they are a significant event for USA Hockey.
The men’s world championships are also an event the organization would like to succeed in, The U.S. has only won gold twice, in 1933 and 1960, but they’ve done pretty well recently, earning bronze in both 2013 and 2015 (seen above). Moreover, a full boycott from the men would go a long way to making USA Hockey look worse in the public eye, and it might spark movement from them in negotiations.
Of course, this situation may well be resolved before the men’s championships come around. The women’s championships start this coming Friday (in Plymouth Township, Michigan, so the tournament might have very little attendance without a U.S. team), and while USA Hockey appears to still be trying to field a team of replacement players (ESPN’s Sarah Spain reported Sunday that they’ve even reached out to U16 players, and another ESPN story mentioned them reaching out to Division III and recreational league players), they may wind up cracking. They’ve taken a public beating over the last while, especially with stories like CNN’s Friday piece on how the men’s team regularly flies business class and can bring and house guests during the tournament, while the women’s team is stuck in coach and doesn’t receive those extra privileges.
The support from unions like the NHLPA and NBPA is a big deal too, and if there’s anything to this rumored men’s team boycott (which there may well be; it’s notable that editions of the world championships held in Europe often have a hard time attracting North American players anyway, so this may be just a bit of extra motivation to not go), that could really put even more pressure on USA Hockey to make a deal. But the organization has held firm on their bargaining line so far. We’ll see if they wind up giving in or if they manage to field a replacement team.
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