Citing the need for a sustainable women's hockey league across the U.S. and Canada, more than 200 of the world's top professional female hockey players have decided not to play in North America next season.
Several players for the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) and the newly defunct Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) took to social media in solidarity on Thursday morning.
"We may have represented different teams, leagues and countries — but this sport is one family," the players' statement read. "And the time is now for this family to unite. This is the moment we've been waiting for — our moment to come together and say we deserve more.