Women's National Team captain Meghan Duggan (photo by Michael Caples/MiHockey)

Women’s National Team members talk about the conclusion of the boycott

Women’s National Team captain Meghan Duggan (photo by Michael Caples/MiHockey)


By @MichaelCaples –

PLYMOUTH – In case you weren’t sure, the players were dead serious about the boycott.

Captain Meghan Duggan knew what was on the line; now, she’s glad that she and her teammates are in USA Hockey Arena ready to represent their country.

“We were dead serious,” Duggan said Thursday afternoon, in the first formal media availability since the conclusion of the Women’s National Team boycott. “Obviously that was a reality that we could get to that point; we’re very happy that we didn’t and that we’re here today and certainly proud that we’re standing here today. It was a sacrifice that everyone saw we were willing to make until we made that meaningful progress that we did make.”

The US. Women’s National Team skated Wednesday evening, and they will practice again today as they quickly prepare for the 2017 IIHF Women’s World Championship. The puck drops tomorrow on the event, with Team USA set to battle rival Canada at 7:30 p.m. in Plymouth.

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Duggan said that from the moment the agreement was reached Tuesday night, both the Women’s National Team and USA Hockey are moving forward together – both for the upcoming tournament and for the health of women’s hockey.

“…I think from that moment forward, it’s us working forward and really moving the future of women’s hockey in our country together – forward together,” Duggan said.

The players were certainly appreciative of the support from fans and hockey people from across the world.

“To see the support all around the world, through social media, they’re the reason why this worked,” Kacey Bellamy said. “I think it just gives you strength and for us, being united like this, it’s just gonna make us become more powerful and feel that on the ice, off the ice as a unit wherever we go in life, and I think that it’s just a very historic moment that we were able to succeed in this battle, and hopefully it draws other people to move forward and I think that that was the main goal and we did that.”

It was two weeks of drama as the hockey world watched to see what type of team would be wearing the Red, White and Blue for the biggest women’s tournament outside of the Olympics. The WNT captain wasn’t worried, however.

“I was super confident,” Duggan said. “Our team, when we put this on the line, we knew that we needed everyone’s support, we needed everyone’s involvement, and we believed in it from the start. We knew it was important, we knew there were a lot of reasons why we had to take these steps forward. Everyone we had been in touch with in our player pool, the U18 pool and all across the country, supported us and had our backs. We were all in it together, and that’s why we were able to get it done.”

Coach Robb Stauber said his team is pleased with the results of the two-week stretch, and that they are ready for the tournament.

“I think they’re pretty satisfied,” Stauber said. “That’s a weight on their shoulders and it was a weight on USA Hockey’s shoulders. To be able to get that behind everyone is a big deal, so when you can play free and don’t have a lot of distractions, it should help everyone and obviously our players went through a process that was difficult, but I think the weight is really off the shoulders and they can really focus and hopefully enjoy the tournament.”

Duggan, who said she is “100 percent” satisfied with the new agreement, was working the phones throughout the stretch to keep the large group of women – both on the team and not – informed and unified.

“A lot of time – it was a group effort,” Duggan said. “This was a process that has been going on for probably 14 or 16 months now. We prepared ourselves in a lot of different ways, trying to not have to get to the point that we did. It was a group effort. It was about our program from the U18 level all the way up to the national level. We had a lot of girls who stood behind us, and in my opinion, the unsung heroes of the entire thing were the unity and strength of everyone standing together in the process.”

The WNT captain hopes her team will be able to play in front of their many supporters Friday night at USA Hockey Arena.

“I hope there’s tons of energy in the building,” Duggan said. “We were on the ice yesterday and it was electric. Everyone who stood behind us in the entire process and really had our backs, I hope they’re here in the building. We’re certainly playing for our team and our country, but we’re playing for our fans and our supporters and all the young girls who are going to be in the rink tomorrow. We’re really excited.”

MiHockey’s Stefan Kubus contributed to this report. Stay tuned for more from USA Hockey Arena…