USA Hockey says it’ll talk to players’ lawyers about rift

The U.S. women’s hockey team is threatening to boycott the world championships because of a wage dispute. The team announced Wednesday that they will not participate in the International Ice Hockey Federation tournament that begins March 31in Plymouth, Michigan. (Associated Press)

FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2017, file photo, WNHL player Hilary Knight answers questions during an interview in New York. The U.S. women's hockey team is threatening to boycott the world championships because of a wage dispute. The team announced Wednesday that they will not participate in the International Ice Hockey Federation tournament that begins March 31, 2017, in Plymouth, Michigan. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 20, 2014, file photo, United States' Hilary Knight passes the puck against Canada during the first period of the women's gold medal ice hockey game at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. After players threatened Wednesday, March 15, 2017, to boycott the upcoming world hockey championships over a wage dispute, USA Hockey said it will “field a competitive team” for the International Ice Hockey Federation Women's World Hockey Championship that begins March 31 in in Plymouth, Mich. “We’re unanimously united as a player pool,” Knight said. “Good luck getting a suitable No. 1 competition to represent our country on a world stage. I kind of dare them. It’s tough.” (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

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The wage dispute between the U.S. women’s hockey team and USA Hockey took another turn Friday as the two sides traded public barbs about the status of their negotiations.

USA Hockey said it is contacting players’ representatives in an effort to resolve the ongoing situation and posted the cost of players’ demands on its website. Players have threatened to boycott the upcoming world championships unless significant progress is made toward a labor deal.

In an update posted to its website Friday afternoon, USA Hockey says players’ demands would exceed $8 million total in an Olympic year and $5.7 million in a non-Olympic year. That estimates a rate of $237,000 per player for winning gold at the Olympics and $149,000 per in non-Olympic years, according to USA Hockey.

Players called that information “patently false” and said it failed to distinguish between money paid by USA Hockey and the U.S. Olympic Committee. Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson said USA Hockey’s response was confusing, and fellow star forward Hilary Knight called the valuations “funny at best.”

“We don’t know where some of those numbers came from,” Lamoureux-Davidson said by phone Friday night. “We’re very aware and clear of what we’ve asked for. ... They throw out these pretty big numbers, which we read those and we go, ‘Really, we asked for that?’ We stand by our original stance and our original ask is that we’re asking for livable compensation.”

Players let a Thursday deadline imposed by USA Hockey to commit to playing pass without changing their minds. Hockey spokesman Dave Fischer said Thursday that the organization was still hopeful the players picked for the team would be on the ice when the tournament begins March 31 in Plymouth, Michigan, and that hadn’t changed as of Friday.

“We remain committed to having the players that were selected to represent the U.S. in the upcoming women’s world championship to be the players that are on the ice when the tournament begins,” USA Hockey executive director Dave Ogrean said.

The U.S. is the defending champion and has won six of the past eight International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Championship gold medals. In its update, the organization wrote: “From the outset, USA Hockey has been clear it will not employ players; however, that does not mean USA Hockey is opposed to a yearly agreement which outlines allocation of direct athlete support and other training resources that USA Hockey is willing to provide to players.”

Players have said they were paid $1,000 a month for the six-month pre-Olympic period and nothing for the other 3 years.