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Women’s hockey stars lead walkout in bid for a better professional league

May 2, 2019 | 10:26 AM

Hilary Knight and Marie-Philip Poulin are among 200 women who say they will not play in any North American women’s hockey league next season “until we get the resources that professional hockey demands and deserves.”

Players from both the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, which shut down Wednesday, and the U.S.-based NWHL have joined the boycott.

Canadian goaltender Shannon Szabados, American forwards Amanda Kessel and Brianna Decker and Finnish goaltender Noora Raty were among the stars of women’s hockey posting a statement Thursday on social media with the hashtag #ForTheGame.

“We cannot make a sustainable living playing in the current state of the professional game,” the statement said.

“Having no health insurance and making as low as two thousand dollars a season means players can’t adequately train and prepare to play at the highest level.”

When the six-team CWHL announced it would fold, the five-team NWHL announced plans to expand to both Montreal and Toronto.

The Canadian Press

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