Police confirm that NHL players will be charged with sexual assault in a 2018 Hockey Canada incident.

Police confirm that NHL players will be charged with sexual assault in a 2018 Hockey Canada incident.

On Monday, the police chief of London, Ontario, confirmed which five players from Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team were each charged with assaulting a woman that year. He also told the woman he was sorry it took so long to bring the case to light.

Seven people have been charged with sexual assault: Carter Hart with the Philadelphia Flyers, Michael McLeod or Cal Foote from the New Jersey Devils, Dillon Dube in the Calgary Flames, and Alex Formenton, who used to play in the NHL.

Detective Sgt. Katherine Dann from the Sexual Assault or Child Abuse Section said that when the investigation was reopened in 2022, it found plausible and probable reasons for bringing the charges. If the charges are proven, the person could go to jail.

At a news conference alongside dozens of reporters present, Truong said, “I want to tell the victim and her family that I’m truly sorry for how long it has taken to get to this point on behalf of the City of London Police Service.”

“This shouldn’t take so long.” It shouldn’t have taken years and years to get to where we are now.

On Monday, police will hold a news conference to talk about a case from 2018 that has led to sexual misconduct charges against four current NHL players or a former NHL player. All of these players were on Canada’s national junior hockey team that year.

They are Carter Hart of the Philadelphia Flyers, Michael McLeod and Cal Foote of the New Jersey Devils, Dillon Dube of the Calgary Flames, and Alex Formenton, a former NHL player who now plays for a Swiss team. All five of them have been charged with sexual assault.

He is also being charged with being an accomplice to the crime of sexual assault. Last week, lawyers of all five players said that their clients had been charged but were not guilty. Police in London got the players over before this week.

Hockey Canada was sued by a woman in 2022, who said that eight members of Canada’s world junior team sexually assaulted her in a hotel room after a fundraising event in London in June 2018.

After Hockey Canada paid the lawsuit, it was found that the organization had two hidden funds used to pay settlements for sexual assault and abuse claims.

There was no longer an investigation going on in London in 2019, but in July 2022, an internal investigation began.

Near the same time, the NHL began its investigation. The results of that investigation probably won’t be made public until the legal case is over.

Commissioner Gary Bettman claimed last week at All-Star Weekend in Toronto, “At this point, the most responsible and prudent act for us to do is wait until the end of the judicial proceedings. At that point, we will respond according to what is needed at the time.”

The players have taken a break from their teams for good. Bettman said that the league doesn’t think the players should be suspended for the rest of the season without pay.

Bettman said that the league learned about the claims on May 26, 2022. He said that the NHL talked to every player on that team and that the woman in question refused to help with the investigation.

All five players’ lawyers were present at a video hearing on Monday morning. The court case in London, which is about halfway between Toronto and Detroit, did not have any players there. The following hearing was planned for April 30.

At the short hearing, the prosecutors asked for and got an order to protect the woman’s identity as well as the identities of two witnesses. This is normal in cases of sexual assault.

Heather Donkers, the prosecutor, also said that in the following few days, the defense lawyers would get “substantial” evidence.

Dann said McLeod is also charged with “being a party to the offense,” which means he helped someone else commit the crime.