Ice hockey: USA Hockey, women's team to meet over wage dispute

[March 20, 2017]  (Reuters) - Members of the U.S. women's national ice hockey team threatening to boycott the world championships over a wage dispute will meet with USA Hockey on Monday, the two sides said on Sunday.

Players from the defending world champions will meet USA Hockey executives in Philadelphia in an effort to sort out the impasse two days before training camp for the week-long tournament begins.

U.S. forwards Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux, Meghan Duggan, Hilary Knight, Kendall Coyne and defenseman Kacey Bellamy will be at the morning meeting, John Langel, a lawyer for the players, told Reuters in an email.

Last week, the women's team said they would not report for training camp unless adequate progress in the dispute is made.

USA Hockey then imposed a deadline of last Thursday for the team to decide whether to participate in the competition, which begins March 31 in Michigan, but the players opted to let that deadline pass.

Players are under contract to USA Hockey only during years when the Winter Games are held and are seeking a deal that would compensate them during non-Olympic years.

But USA Hockey has maintained that its role is to support players as they prepare for competitions, not to employ them.

USA Hockey said last week the door remains open for a settlement and they are committed to resolving the dispute.

(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Andrew Both)

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Team USA players including Hilary Knight (#21), Meghan Duggan (#10) and Brianna Decker (R) celebrate with the World Cup trophy after the 2015 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship gold medal match between USA and Canada at Malmo Isstadion in Malmo, southern Sweden, on April 4, 2015. REUTERS/Claudio Bresciani/TT News Agency