A scandal has rocked Canadian hockey and led to multiple investigations of several players who were on the nation's gold medal-winning 2018 world junior team, including some who have moved on to the NHL.
Five of those players now face charges, including four who are currently on NHL teams. Police in London, Ontario, scheduled a news conference for Monday to provide details about their investigation.
A woman sued Hockey Canada in 2022, alleging she was sexually assaulted by eight members of Canada's world junior team after a fundraising gala in London in 2018. Hockey Canada settled the lawsuit, and then an investigation revealed the organization had two secret funds to pay settlements on claims of sexual assault and abuse.
According to court documents, the woman, then 20, alleged that a man, identified only as “John Doe #1,” took her from a bar to a hotel room and invited seven other men into the room to perform undisclosed sexual acts, intimidating her and preventing her from leaving. The woman said in the lawsuit the men directed her to take a shower and asked her to say on video she was sober.
The woman sought $3.55 million in damages and dropped the lawsuit after reaching the settlement with Hockey Canada.
London police had dropped their investigation in 2019 but launched an internal review in July 2022, leading to the charges filed last week. The NHL launched its own investigation in 2022.
Goaltender Carter Hart of the Philadelphia Flyers; Michael McLeod and Cal Foote of the New Jersey Devils; Dillon Dube of the Calgary Flames; and former NHL player Alex Formenton, now with the Swiss club HC Ambri-Piotta, have been charged with sexual assault. McLeod is facing an additional charge of being a party to the offense of sexual assault.
Attorneys for all five said the players are not guilty and will fight the allegations. The four NHL players are on paid leave from their teams.
Hart is the Flyers’ No. 1 goaltender, while McLeod and Dube are regular players. Foote, a defenseman and son of former NHL player Adam Foote, has primarily been in the American Hockey League this season. Formenton played in 109 games for the Ottawa Senators from 2017 through 2022.
London police are expected to discuss the case at Monday's news conference, which comes two days after the NHL's All-Star Weekend in Toronto. The teams are planning to compete without those players for the foreseeable future.
For the players, no one knows. If they are convicted of sexual assault, Canadian law includes jail sentences, depending on several factors, including the age of the alleged victim.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman made it clear the league will let the legal case play out before taking any steps. He also pointed out that the four NHL players do not have contracts beyond this season: “They’re all away from their teams on leave, and (then) they’re all free agents. They won’t be under contract after this season anyway
The NHL's investigation has not been released and will presumably remain that way until the case is resolved; Bettman has pledged to release it.
Whatever the court decides, Bettman has wide latitude to make decisions in the interest of the game when it comes to off-ice behavior. The league in 2019 suspended Los Angeles Kings defenseman Slava Voynov for the 2019-20 season and ensuing playoffs after determining he committed acts of domestic violence. Shane Pinto was suspended for 41 games for violating the league’s gambling policy.
There is an appeals process through the NHL Players’ Association and an arbitrator jointly hired by the league and union to rule on disputes, when necessary.
Hockey Canada, meanwhile, has already lost several sponsors, including Nike, and its CEO and board resigned in 2022 in the wake of this and other scandals.
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