Capitals trio respects women's team's stance in fight with USA Hockey
Three American Washington Capitals defensemen with international experience say they don't disagree with the U.S. national women's team's decision to threaten a boycott over what they claim are unfair wages.
"I respect it," Capitals defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk told ESPN's Scott Burnside. "I think it takes a lot of courage to make that sort of stand. And I've known some of those girls for a little while now from my (Boston University) days training in the summers with them and seeing them at Olympics."
The U.S. women, including team captain Meghan Duggan and veteran Hilary Knight, announced Wednesday they plan to boycott the World Championship - for which training camp begins next week - if stalled negotiations over compensation don't progress significantly beforehand.
Related: Hilary Knight: 'I kind of dare' USA Hockey to go to worlds without us
"Those girls have a full plate, year-round, with what they do," Shattenkirk said. "For them to ask for better pay and substantial pay for all the sacrifice that they give to the program, I think is valid and it's warranted."
USA Hockey set a 5 p.m. ET deadline Thursday for the women's team to revoke its boycott threat, according to The Canadian Press.
The governing body issued a statement Wednesday in response to the threat, citing the support it already provides and claiming each player could earn up to $85,000 in stipends and medal bonuses at the 2018 Olympics, but Duggan called that claim "misleading and dishonest," denying the offer was ever made.
John Carlson believes the women are entitled to more financial support than they're receiving and acknowledged their struggle is entirely different from that of the men.
"They deserve every bit of everything they get and probably a lot more because they've been awesome competitors and it's a whole different landscape that they have to deal with," he said.
Brooks Orpik agreed with his U.S. compatriots and Capitals teammates, particularly on the point that they can't fully relate to what the female players are up against.
"It's tough for us to know exactly what situation they're in financially but knowing what most of the salaries are in that (women's) league, asking for a little bit more than what they're supposedly getting doesn't seem unreasonable to me."